Pokemon: The Pokemon World Tournament (PWT) Series
by Marchen Meines Lebens
Summary: After the sudden attack of Team Flare to the Kalos Region, Ash heard a certain news of an important tournament that will take place in the Alola Region. However, after many circumstances encountered, he is then startled by a certain question that had come to his mind: What does being a Pokemon Master really mean? An XY/SM anime AU, with the same characters.
1. Table of Contents

**_Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series_**

 **Genre:** _Adventure, Drama, Family,_ Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Table of Contents_**

* * *

 ** _VOLUME ONE_**

 ** _Prologue Part I: _**_Pocket Monsters... The World's Mysterious Creatures..._ _(CHAPTER 002)_

 ** _Prologue Part_** _ **II:** __A_ _Certain Battle Towards An Unknown Goal (CHAPTER 003)  
_

 ** _*Kalos Region Chapters: The Aftermath of A Certain Incident*  
Music Theme: Kaze no Uta/Song of the Wind __(_ 風ノ唄) _\- Flow_ _(フロウ) [Tales of Zestiria the X Opening Theme]_**

 ** _Chapter 01:_** _An Unexpected Visitor (CHAPTER 004-007)  
_

 ** _Chapter 02:_** _A Small Link To The Past (VOLUME ONE CHAPTER 009-012_ _)_ ** _  
_**

 ** _Chapter 03:_** _Inevitable Invitations (_ _VOLUME ONE_ _CHAPTER 014-018_ _)_

 ** _Chapter 04:_** _The Remnants (_ _VOLUME ONE_ _CHAPTER 019-023; will be released in the future_ _)_

 ** _Chapter 05:_** _Endless Zero (_ _VOLUME ONE_ _CHAPTER 024-027; will be released in the future)_

 ** _*Kanto Region Chapters: Pallet Town: Yet Another Arrival And Another Departure*  
_**

 ** _Chapter 06:_** _A Concrete and Vague Goal Part I (_ _VOLUME ONE_ _CHAPTER 028-031; will be released in the future)_

 ** _Chapter 07:_** _A Con_ _crete and Vague Goal Part II (_ _VOLUME ONE_ _CHAPTER 032-035; will be released in the future)_

 ** _VOLUME TWO_**

 ** _*Alola Region Chapters: Another Story Was About To Be Written*_**

 ** _Chapter 08:_** _Into the New Region of Dances, Rites and Trials (VOLUME TWO CHAPTER 001-004; will be released in the future)_ ** _  
_**

 ** _Chapter 09:_** _A Mysterious Young Lady (_ _VOLUME TWO_ _CHAPTER 005-008; will be released in the future)_

 ** _Chapter 10:_** _A Powerful Crystal (_ _VOLUME TWO_ _CHAPTER 009-012; will be released in the future)_

 ** _Chapter 11:_** _Null and Void (_ _VOLUME TWO_ _CHAPTER 013-016; will be released in the future)_

 ** _Chapter 12: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 13: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 14: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 15: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 16: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 17: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 18: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 19: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 20: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 21: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 22: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 23: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 24: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 25: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 26: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 27: ?.?.?._**

 ** _VOLUME THREE_**

 ** _Chapter 28: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 29: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 30: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 31: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 32: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 33: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 34: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 35: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 36: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 37: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 38: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 39: ?.?.?._**

 ** _Chapter 40: ?.?.?._**

 ** _VOLUME FOUR_**

 ** _Chapter ?.?.?: ?.?.?._**

 ** _VOLUME FIVE_**

 ** _Chapter ?.?.?: ?.?.?._**

 ** _VOLUME SIX_**

 ** _Chapter ?.?.?: ?.?.?._**

 ** _EXTRA CHAPTERS_**

 ** _Extra Chapter 1: Characters Part I (CHAPTER 007)_**

 ** _Extra Chapter 2: Answering Reviews (CHAPTER 012)_**


	2. Prologue I

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Prologue_** _**Part I: Pocket Monsters**_

* * *

 _Pocket Monsters, or Pokemon for short..._

 _They are this planet's strange, mysterious lifeforms..._

 _151?_

 _251?_

 _386?_

 _493?_

 _649?_

 _721?_

 _No, it's possibly even more than that as no one knows how many varieties there are..._

 _In the skies..._

 _In the seas..._

 _In the mountains..._

 _In the forests..._

 _In the plains..._

 _And even in the cities..._

 _All around the world, wherever you are, you can be sure to see them..._

 _There are as many meetings as there are Pokemon..._

 _There are as many dreams as there are Pokemon..._

 _There are as many adventures to be had as there are Pokemon..._

 _Pokemon and humans put their powers together as friends and partners, communicating wholeheartedly and living together..._

 _In other times, they faced off against opponents to become champions in a sport called Pokemon battling, combining their strengths to fight..._

 _In fact, there are many types of relations between humans and Pokemon..._

 _There are those who try to use Pokemon to fulfill their own ambitions, a_ _nd also there are also those who work to protect Pokemon and nature..._

* * *

 ** _Continue on: Prologue_** _**Part II**_


	3. Prologue II

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 _ **Prologue Part II: An Important Battle Towards An Unknown Goal**_

* * *

The date is September 11, 20XX.

" _This early in this rematch between two of the best Pokemon trainers who are some of the representatives for the Kalos Group for this tournament and have two Pokemon knocked out of the match, they already released their trump cards! Will this battle given the same fate as the result of the recent Kalos League Conference in favor of its champion or will there be a turn of tides for its challenger?!"_ [1]

In a grassy battlefield in a large stadium in a certain city within one of the large islands in the Alola Region, the Poni Island, a certain invitational event where the battle between those mentioned trainers and their non-human partners called Pocket Monsters, or in simpler terms, Pokemon, takes place.

On the large screen that showed the current result of the match, a black-haired trainer in black outfit named Alain, 19 years old, seemed to already use a humanoid villain-looking Bisharp, a black weasel Weavile, a blue four-legged disc-shaped robot Metagross and a three-headed draconic Hydreigon in the previous battles, with only Weavile and Hydreigon greyed out - an indication that these Pokemon are defeated - and said trainer is now currently using a bipedal draconic Charizard. Another black-haired trainer wearing collared shirt named Ash, 16 years old, seemed to already use a yellow rodent Pikachu, a leaf-tailed reptile Sceptile, and a fiery falcon Talonflame, with only his Pikachu that was not being eliminated yet and such trainer took out a blue ninja-esque frog Greninja for the battle.

"As expected from my greatest rival, you have gotten stronger. But, I will definitely be doing the same thing that I and my Pokemon did in Kalos League, Ash."

"I know, Alain... But that doesn't mean that I will be going to lose either!"

"Charizard, blaze the battlefield with your Flamethrower!"

"Greninja, create clones with Double Team and then use Water Shuriken against Charizard!"

On one hand, upon following a certain command from its trainer, the black draconic, bipedal Pokemon who had currently experienced Mega Evolution on itself, immediately releases an intense blast of fire from its mouth and directs its attack towards its opponent.

On the other hand, the blue bipedal frog Pokemon, specifically a Greninja that had undergone so-called the Bond Phenomenon with its trainer, who, upon following its trainer's orders, had its body glows white and it creates multiple copies of itself. Then each of its shadow copies threw their large throwing stars made of compressed water from their backs towards Charizard at high speed.

Sounds of clashing water and blasting fire had been heard throughout the stadium, causing shock and awe among the crowd as Pokemon's attacks hit one another, creating a foggy explosion throughout the battlefield which was then followed by disappearance of Greninja's shadow copies.

"Charizard, finish this immediately with Blast Burn!"

On one hand, the dragon Pokemon engulfed itself in light blue flames and then punched the ground. Such punch then sends a wave of energy into the grass field which then moves underneath Greninja, the energy then bursts upwards in a giant explosion of red-orange flames.

"Our battle back in Kalos League is not going to happen here! Greninja, jump high!"

However, Ash had a certain strategy came to mind.

 _What does it mean to become a Pokemon Master,_ the young man thought.

Before Greninja was going to be hit by such energy explosion, it immediately leaped very high to dodge the attack, enough to evade such blasting wave of energy released on the battlefield.

"Greninja, use your throwing star to release your special move!"

While still in mid-air, the blue bipedal frog Pokemon then slowly summoned a glowing blue ball of water coming from the compressed water of its large throwing star on its back through its hands, as it glows itself with verdane aura.

Few seconds while Greninja jumped itself high enough to evade such powerful attack, Ash then looked at one part of the crowd within the stadium - where he saw most of his friends and his mother, ever since the start of his journey to become so-called the _Pokemon Master_ , all of which are cheering for his win or so from his persepective. Such friends include Gym Leaders of the respective cities they resided, Pokemon assistants, Pokemon Performers and some of their respective family members.

After all, some of the crowd within the stadium are some of the well-known personalities around the world like the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four members and even the Pokemon Champions from the different regions of this world. After all, such event is called Pokemon World Tournament for a good reason.

He then looked at a certain brown-haired woman in her 30s looking at him with such faith for some reason. Looking at her reminds him of a certain conversation when he was only five.

* * *

It was the day when a personal computer was given to him for the first time. Delia said, while staring at the brand-new personal computer:

 _"Hey, my son. I must say to you: your father and grandfather are great Pokemon trainers, aren't they?"_

Ash was sure about this.

 _"Hey mom, tell me! What is my dad like? What sort of a man is my grandpa?"_

Everytime little Ash asked the same question, she always gave the same answer.

 _"Your dad and grandpa are surreal trainers who surpass the hero Pallet Oak, probably."_

 _"Surreal?"_ It wasn't a familiar word for him.

 _"Fantastic... Over-realistic..."_

 _"They are superior men, you meant."_

 _"Yeah, my son. It's something like that."_

Eventually, seeing her son still believed her word, made her feeling down and said, while getting closer to little Ash:

 _"Sorry, my dear son. I told you a lot of lies."_ Delia said to Ash with his mouth wide open.

 _"Lies?"_

 _"Surrealistic Pokemon trainers. Surrealistic is super-realistic, super-realistic means to stand aloof from the reality… in other words, it's a nonsense!"_

 _"Mama?"_

 _"Give me a break."_

A break should have been given to the shocked Ash more than her. As he eventually used his new computer to find the names of his father and his grandfather from the Internet, he then asked a question after such a long silence between them:

 _"Then, what are my father and my grandfather doing now?"_

Delia shrugged her shoulders.

 _"I don't know... Even if they are aiming to be great Pokemon Masters… it's so fruitless since we do not have information about them until now…"_

 _"It's so fruitless…"_ Ash repeated Delia's words.

Since Delia hates make his son sad, she said it as if it wasn't important.

 _"But, it doesn't mean your efforts are fruitless. Don't mind about your dad and grandpa, from now on. It is up to you whether you become a trainer or not, Ash."_

 _"Wow! That's very cool!"_

 _"Yeah, cool! It's really very super cool!"_

Delia smiled. It was a relief for her to realize that Ash wasn't deeply shocked. After all, Ash, like his father, his grandfather and Delia herself, are also aiming to become the world's greatest Pokemon Master. [2]

* * *

 _Thank you for your continuous support with me, Mama. I 'm glad I have gotten here in this greatest stage where the entire world was watching, Mama... and yet, there's something I needed to achieve more for a reason. There's a lot more things to learn too, after all,_ he thought as he looked at his mother.

Eventually, he turned to look at one of his friends - one of his female friends, to be specific - who sit beside his mother, and unlike others who are cheering loudly for him, she has an unwavering faith on her face that focused on him and him alone, just like his mother did. Looking at her like that, he remembered yet another certain conversation long time ago.

* * *

 _"I don't think anything is pointless. Everything on our journey will lead up to victory at the Pokemon League in this region. That's why I need to work a lot harder,"_ said Ash who was still carrying his Pikachu while sitting on a rock with an injury on his right foot for a certain reason.

 _"Hmm... You are already working hard, Ash... You do plenty enough,"_ said the lady in question as she took care of Ash while standing on his side.

 _"Nah. I still have a long way to go. My dream won't come true like this."_

 _"Your dream is..."_

 _"...to become a Pokemon Master."_

 _"I see... You really are amazing, Ash."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"N, Nothing. I will cool it again."_ said the lady as she hurriedly get the small wet towel from his right foot and carry it to wet it again by the river.

 _"Thank you."_

 _"You've got... a clear dream,"_ said the lady who was still looking at her image on said river.

 _"What's with you all of the sudden?"_

The lady then carry back the towel to Ash to lessen the effects of the injury on his right foot.

 _"At times, I wonder... what I want to do and... what my dream is."_

 _"There's no need to rush. Take your time to find one."_

Their Pokemon, Ash's Pikachu and the lady's Fennekin, then agreed with what Ash had told her.

Then she carried her Fennekin on her arms as Ash spoke, still smiling.

 _"Fennekin says it wants to find a dream together with you."_ [3]

* * *

 _You told me long ago that I had a clear dream when I told you about my goal to become a Pokemon Master… Then, we both realized that such goal is something I might have achieved it long ago. It took us a lot of time knowing it, didn't it? Now, tell me… Which of the new paths should I take once I achieve such victory in an important event in my life like this? Guide me about that one._

After noticing her, his thoughts shifted from that female friend of his to a certain middle-aged man who is located at a certain VIP room far from the crowd he previously looked for.

From what he observed, such man with a Pikachu on his right shoulder was also focused on the battle between the two trainers, but specifically to him, for a reason that he knew well… and so did his mother.

 _It had been a long time before I met you, old man_ , his reflection while looking at that middle-aged person.

"Pikapi!"

Once Greninja had finally gathered a blast of compressed water from its watery throwing star on its back, Ash who had noticed his Pikachu talking to him about the battle right now.

"Yeah! I know, Pikachu... Do it now, Greninja!"

Greninja fires such powerful spiral of compressed water in the direction of Charizard at highest speed possible, creating sounds of violent cyclone hitting towards the battlefield. Eventually, to the surprise of Charizard, such blast then hit it successfully, in which an impact between the blast itself and Charizard then created yet another foggy explosion around Charizard.

The entire crowd within the stadium roars loudly at an exciting battle seeing another foggy explosion had happened once more as an effect of exchanging blows between water and flames.

 _But for now, I think it is really time for me to show more about myself to become someone who will inspire everyone to pursue their dreams, no matter how vague or impossible it would be,_ he thought as he looked up at the blue skies above him, thinking about certain things.

* * *

 _A certain boy, Ash of Kanto Region's Pallet Town, battles and gets Pokemon along with his Pikachu..._

 _In order to become a Pokemon Master... no, in order to reach certain goals in life, Ash, as a Pokemon trainer, continues his journey in the pursuit of new knowledge..._

 _Truly, there are as many meetings as there are Pokemon..._

 _Truly, there are still as many dreams as there are Pokemon..._

 _And truly, there are still as many adventures to be written as there are Pokemon awaiting them..._

 _And so, a new adventure will be going to be written..._

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter:**_ _ **Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor**_

* * *

REFERENCES:

 **[1]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 38: Kalos League Victory! Ash's Ultimate Match!  
 **[2]** Ash's backstory according to the "Pocket Monsters: The Animation" novel  
 **[3]** Pokemon XY Episode 40: Serena VS Shauna! Pokévision Showdown!


	4. Unexpected Visitor I

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 _ **Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor Part I**_

* * *

" _Live here from Lumiose City in Kalos Region is the Kalos League Conference Finals. In this event, we had been going to air this not only in this region but also to other regions around the world as well, like many other league conferences around the world! Right now, it is about the time for the resolution between the two remaining trainers who have dreams to become the Pokemon Champion as only one Pokemon had remained each from both trainers. Who will be the winner in this year's tournament? Will it be either Alain and his Charizard or Ash and his Greninja? Let's find out as another clash for this final battle between these two Pokemon continued."_ [1]

* * *

The date is May 10, 20XX.

In a certain room within such place was a certain male student of Pokemon Medical School who was watching for the Kalos League Conference Finals, Brock, along with Nurse Joy of Johto's Goldenrod City and her Chansey. After all, he does so for an old friend whom he accompanied since the time that friend battled him for a badge when he was the Gym Leader of Pewter City in Kanto until they part ways in Sinnoh when the squinty-eyed lad decided to hone his medical skills in said school - that is, aside from the Orange Region where he decided to become Professor Ivy's assistant for a while. Brock noticeably wearing a doctor's coat.

 _It's almost there, Ash. I had witnessed your journey since then, so it is worth to see you winning this time after all of your experiences._

He thought as he still witnessed the clash between Alain's Charizard and Ash's Greninja where the former was seen releasing an intense blast of fire from its mouth and attacking running multiple Double Team copies of Greninja. Greninja then fires off its water throwing star towards Charizard.

* * *

In one of the rooms within a newly-built stadium for Pokemon Performances called Olivine City Pokemon Showcase Stadium are two certain Pokemon Performers watching for the Kalos League Conference Finals, along with their close friends and their parents who supported them for the event called Pokemon Contest Grand Festival (Female Category) - an equivalent of the Tripokalon Master Class Tournament of the Kalos Region - in Johto even if it means only one of the two Performers will be going to win such tournament. On the television was Ash's Greninja and Alain's Charizard have clashing with one another with Aerial Ace and Dragon Claw with all their might once again, respectively.

"Mega Evolution, huh? That method had become a staple one for Pokemon Battles lately," replied the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, Norman, while felt curious seeing Alain's Charizard's different appearance.

"I agree with you, sire. Even the starter Pokemon from our region and from Kanto Region like Charizard had been capable of doing the method," replied a certain green-haired close friend of Norman's daughter, Drew.

"Huh? Do you mean even my Blaziken too is capable to do that, Drew?" said Norman's daughter, May, who took a turn to her close friend.

"I did tell you about the method itself, didn't I, May?"

"Hmm… Let me think," May acted while scratching her head about the process of Mega Evolution on certain Pokemon, "I... I didn't know about that, Drew!"

Drew just sighed at his close friend's reaction and said, "with that attitude of yours, I hope you could win this tournament, May."

"Wha... What do you mean?!"

 _But that Greninja… How does it achieve Mega Evolution without a Keystone from Ash? Is there anything else that I haven't asked to Professor Birch?_

Norman's mind was rather focusing on his thought alone rather than on stopping his daughter and her male friend from their usual bickering, making conversations about other other Pokemon coordinators going to pursue to become Pokemon Performers like May herself.

Onto the others on the other hand, a blue-haired Pokemon Performer named Dawn, then talked to Johanna, her mother and Caroline, the brunette Pokemon Performer's mother. The two mothers are notably drinking tea as they made conversations.

"Now that Ash had reached the final round of the Pokemon League Conference, I hope he had meet the Kalos Queen there. I am really inspired to do this because of her performances."

"Huh? Do you mean Kalos Queen Elle, Dawn?"

"Yes, you are right, mother."

"I see… So you and May had really decided to pursue this career because of Elle."

"Yes, really."

As the conversation between Johanna and Dawn as well May and Drew's bickering continued, Caroline somehow entered the mother-daughter conversation.

"Kalos Queen, eh?"

"What is it, Caroline?"

"Few weeks ago, I watched the Tripokalon Master Class Tournament in the Kalos Region in our house, where Elle fought against a girl who is the same age as our daughters. That was an interesting battle, if I could think about it."

"What's the girl's name, Caroline?" said Dawn in a slightly loud voice towards Caroline.

"Serena. Her performance along with her Braixen, Sylveon and Pancham is just as elegant and beautiful as Elle's with her Delphox, Aromatisse and Vivillion. Even so, because the winner of the tournament depends on the audience impact, Elle still won the title of the Kalos Queen," said Caroline as she thought about what she remembered.

"Serena, huh? I hope I could meet her too someday and we will be going to make conversations about her experiences in Pokemon Performances in Kalos. But most importantly, to fight her with it elsewhere," said Dawn as she felt determined about having another Pokemon Performer as her rival of sorts, "Is it, Piplup?"

"Pocha!"

The little blue penguin Pokemon on her arms responded to her question. Then her mother asked something:

"You're going to compete against someone that look like you, Dawn. Do you have an idea now?"

"Do you mean Princess Salvia, Mama?"

"Yes, I cannot expect that there would be one like you there."

"Not that I expect her being here either, Mama, ever since I returned Togekiss to her a long time ago..."

Over the course of her journey with a certain raven-haired Pokemon Trainer and a certain brown-haired Pokemon Doctor in the Sinnoh Region, Dawn had met her doppelgänger named Salvia, a certain princess of the Arrowroot Town in said region. [2] At this point, Dawn only felt surprised thinking about her look-a-like being in this competition along with May, especially she had returned the Togekiss to Salvia some time after she left Unova Region where she met Ash and his two companions named Cilan and Iris as the four participated in the Pokemon World Tournament Junior Cup a year ago. [3]

However, May and Drew are still continuing to bicker about things, much to the dismay of others. Then Dawn asked the two of them:

"Hey, May, Drew."

"What is it, Dawn?"

"I am quite curious, May, Drew… Aren't the two of you… dating?"

"A-Ah?! Me dating with Drew?! T-That's impossible! Right, Drew?!"

"Yeah! It's impossible for us to do so! Besides, we're only riv-"

"Yeah, you two are rivals. But that doesn't mean you can't fall in love with your rival." said Caroline, who was now teasing her daughter and said close friend, satisfying on seeing them being embarrassed on the current status of their relationship.

"M-Mama!"

The TV screen that they are watching now shows Charizard using Blast Burn on the ground towards Greninja. Greninja, on the other hand, then responded it by thrusting the Water Shuriken onto the ground, such action releases small waves of water on the ground that will stop the waves of flame energy, defending itself from such powerful attack. As a certain Pokemon League anchor then said:

" _Oh! Greninja defended itself against Blast Burn with Water Shuriken! This is going to an interesting final battle for Kalos League!"_

* * *

As the battle between Charizard and Greninja continued in Lumiose City Stadium, Cilan, Chili and Cress, all 17-year-old young men, are continuing their duties as the waiters of their restaurant, which also served as a Gym in Striaton City, even if they had watched such battle in the large flat-screened television that they had for their building.

 _You are clearly different from what you were before when I traveled with you, Ash. You fight differently now. It must be the will to become stronger that made you go like that now… Seeing your Greninja's appearance._

Cilan thought while watching the battle, even if he worked for his duties. After all, Cilan had been a companion with Ash and Iris when the aspiring Pokemon trainer traveled in the Unova Region and the Decolora Islands due to its fascination to discover new things in this world.

Speaking of that female trainer:

"Ash's improving, isn't it, Cilan?"

"I know, Opelucid City Gym Leader... We are quite honored to serve you in this restaurant anyway."

"Hey! Don't act like you do not know me, Cilan!"

* * *

In a living room of said house, five people and a Mr. Mime are watching the Kalos League Conference Finals match between Alain and Ash. Three of those people happened to be the well-known Professor Oak and his two assistants.

"So Ash was still pursuing to go with different Pokemon Leagues around the world. That persistence, huh?" said Gary, 15-year-old Professor Oak's grandson and a Pokemon researcher.

"I cannot agree with you, Gary. Ash was focusing more on traveling with different regions around the world to discover new Pokemon by himself," said Tracey, a 18-year-old assistant of the Pokemon Professor in Kanto Region, "Am I right, Professor Oak?"

"Hmm… Seeing him like that would made me feel proud. Besides, he might help us, Professors, about a certain Pokemon, Gary, Tracey."

"Huh? What Pokemon, grandfather?"

"I could tell you later after this conference finals. I hope for Ash's win there in Kalos, just like in Orange Region few years ago."

On that time, on the television screen, Ash's Greninja exchanged blows with Alain's Charizard with the former's Cut to the latter's Dragon Claw. Then, Charizard was then seen released a fist made of lightning towards Greninja, who responded it with making its water throwing star as its shield from such lightning fist.

"Yes, I could only hope for his win, Professor," said a certain 15-year-old orange-haired Gym Leader of the Cerulean City.

"Yes, of course, Misty, Professor Oak. Besides, if he lost this one, my son and Serena..." replied Delia, Ash's mother, in a thoughtful manner.

"If he lost in this Pokemon League there in Kalos, I will only think to two things to make him learn his lesson from me."

"... will be having the same fate in Kalos, since they might lost in such crucial battles to their goals." [4]

"Serena? Who is she, madam?"

"Didn't I tell you about Serena, Misty? She was my son's old friend whom we met several years ago in a Pokemon Summer Camp here in Pallet Town. I became an acquaintance with her mother because of my son and her daughter's friendship. But now in our recent video calls by the time he goes in the Kalos Region, she and Ash had been travelling together along with their other friends, pursuing their own goals."

"So, that was just like May and Max in Hoenn with him and Brock." [5]

"Yes, that's also like Dawn and Brock in Sinnoh, or Iris and Cilan in Unova." [6][7]

"So Ash had been really continuing his journey on the other regions, madam."

"I know. Just like Tracey said, he is more interested in seeing Pokemon by himself more than the Pokemon League. What's the problem, Misty?"

"Serena, huh? Is she that person who compete in the recent Tripokalon Master Class Tournament in Kalos?"

"Yes, she is that person- oh, that reminds me..."

Delia eventually sees a certain picture elsewhere around the room and gives it to everyone else for them to know about something in related to the event formed by Professor Oak himself.

"Now, I remember, you have never given me such picture, grandfather," said Gary who was rather annoyed about something, "more importantly, as someone whom I considered a rival once, I didn't even know about Ash's friendship to that cute little girl to the point that the two of them holding hands like that."

"They personally met one another during that Summer Camp when he and Serena got lost in a forest around the camp."

Before anything else happened, a sound of explosion was heard elsewhere, calling almost everyone's attention.

As it turned out though, on that time in TV screen while everyone's attention was on that picture, Charizard then releases another wave of flame energy on the ground, while Greninja was now seen using its most powerful Water Shuriken that it can wield by far and throwing it rapidly towards Charizard.

"Huh?!"

Everyone but one had then take a look back on the TV screen as the final clash had happened between Charizard and Greninja:

" _Greninja is unable to battle! Charizard is the victor! The winner and therefore, the Champion for this year's Kalos League Conference, is Alain!"_

Hearing the announcement, the crowd on that stadium in Kalos made a loud roar for the battle between such dedicated trainers who are now seen to shake hands to one another...

" _This is such a magnificent battle between these two strongest Pokemon trainers in this conference, regardless of the winner. They had given their all in this match. This battle also makes the first time Alain used a full line-up against any opponent in this conference."_

"Ash… I hope you do not get down again after losing this conference," said by a worried Delia.

"Huh? I thought he would have won this one this time around," said Gary sighing at the very moment where Ash actually lost the finals, "but seeing that Greninja's appearance... Grandfather, is there any information about that forme of Greninja?"

"I can't say anything. Not every fully-evolved Pokemon is capable of undergoing Mega Evolution process. Not even Greninja can change formes like that..." said Professor Oak with Tracey agreeing with him.

"This would be an interesting research, wouldn't it, Professor?" asked Delia while she is worried on Ash's loss.

Everyone were notably talking about the recent defeat of Ash... Everyone but Misty who was still looking at the picture that had been shown to them by Delia.

 _Serena, huh? I never knew about her or even someone like Dawn, Cilan or Iris. I see... I haven't seen him for a long while now or I have went to Pallet Town to call for him. It had been my duties as a Gym Leader that made me unable to do that. If only I could able to build a robot that could able to function like a Gym Leader does... I might able to join Ash for a long while._

"Is there something to matter, Misty?"

"Huh? N-Nothing, madam. I am just looking at the picture here."

* * *

On the television screen, the Pokemon Champion of Kalos, Diantha, was seen given a certain trophy to the Pokemon Trainer, Alain:

 _"Alain, I praise you as a Trainer who raised his Pokemon well, forged solid bonds with them, and demonstrated unparallel strength in battle. Congratulations."_

 _"Thank you."_

Then Ash was then seen to be congratulating Alain as well.

 _"W-What is going on?! What is that thing that crawled around the stadium?! Such mystery... What is going on?!"_

A certain unexpected disaster happened on Kalos League Conference, much to the shock of everyone who watched the conference, especially Ash's friends and his mother who had been more worried now that danger has covered Lumiose City. Some of them even wanted to go to Kalos to help Ash just like in his previous journey, specifically Misty, May and Dawn. However:

"Ash..."

This was the only word Mrs. Delia had said before she proceeded to put her hands to her heart, praying for the safety of Ash and his friends in Lumiose City on Kalos, similar to someone else's expression before Ash's Gym Battle against Cyllage City Gym Leader, Grant. [8]

 _I only hope for your safety no matter what. I always have a faith that you can do it, just like everything you have done in the past,_ she thought as she watched the incident that had happened right now in Lumiose City.

* * *

 _"What are you going to do?"_

 _"I've already decided... Like your father, I'll be exploring more about this world... I might have gone to become one of the best Pokemon Trainers around the world with my own dreams... Just like Pallet Oak."_

 _"That's not easy to do... Especially now that he's here with us... in my arms."_

 _"I know... But don't worry... I'll assure you that I'll be reaching my goal, even if it means taking a lot of time before I could ever achieve such thing._ _"_

 _"It didn't matter. He needed you to be here. After all, he is our..."_

 _"Without becoming a Pokemon Master, he wouldn't be proud of me in the end."_

 _"Fame, popularity, prestige... I also once wanted those things. But now, things had changed. All I want is your love to him."_

 _"Yes... As much as I wanted to stay for him... My dreams with my Pokemon won't come to an end without doing anything here."_

 _"Dreams, huh? If only I couldn't abandon my own for the sake of the life here in this town and... I might have joined you even."_

 _"Then... let's travel together!"_

 _"I'll not going to do that with him here."_

 _"I see... Then, I will be staying here until he decided to become a Pokemon Trainer like me..."_

 _"That's better, my dear."_

Sounded better to hear for the person with womanly voice. However...

The next morning, such person spoke to a certain infant crying on her arms:

 _"He's gone... I'll pray for his return... I hope he'll be safe on his journey... I hope he'll see grow, my..."_

* * *

The date is May 13, 20XX.

That is, three days had past since the Kalos League Conference [9] - and Lysandre's and Team Flare's intervention in Lumiose City [10] - ended.

For a seemingly short while, it was only complete darkness. However, the setting's changed when that person then opened his eyes to see a certain white ceiling when the skies outside was still dark but with few shades of white.

"W-Where am I?" those are first words of a certain person who had just awaken from such slumber, "was this place... a hospital room?"

Such slumber of that dream within three days, that is.

"Ma...ma."

The raven-haired person woke up slowly and then looked at his surroundings.

On one side of the room, there were a fiery falcon, a pudgy dragon, a small bipedal luchador-like bird of prey and the large chiropteran dragon sleeping peacefully on the floor, with said bird of prey sleeping on the head of the chiropteran dragon.

"Good morning, Talonflame, Goodra, Hawlucha, Noivern."

He then looked at a certain wall clock near them. The time's 6:15 AM.

"Pi-ka-pi-ka-chu... Pi-ka-pi-ka..."

On that certain person's lap, which was covered by a white blanket, was a short, chubby rodent sleeping tranquilly. Said person slowly pats the sleeping rodent's head with his left hand, making sure that he won't disturb said creature. He intentionally wanted to use his right hand first but a little bit heavy object prevented him in doing so.

"G-Good morning, Pikachu." said such person in a voice of low volume.

On the other side of the room, there were a fiery bipedal fox, a young panda, a green hedgehog, a grey rabbit, a black lion and a sylph mammal fell asleep on the floor, with the panda and the hedgehog sleeping with their heads close with one another, and most importantly, a yellow-haired young man and a yellow-haired young girl in a dinosaur suit along with an orange dormouse on a little yellow pouch sleeping as well.

"Clemont, Bonnie."

Notably, Bonnie's eyes was filled with complete sadness for a reason he might have not known.

"Ash."

But most importantly, perhaps, the reason he patted his yellow rodent with his left hand instead of his right one was because of certain young lady's right hand tightly holding his. Said lady was facing towards him, yet her face somehow filled with constant worrying. After all, it had been a long time since he had slept for some reason.

 _Beautiful_...

That was the first thought such person said to the lady as he slowly lift his left hand to touch her face and trying to remove such sadness from her.

"You must have been that worried, Serena... I apo-"

"... Love..."

"Love?"

Said person then stopped doing something else as he heard that word from the young lady.

"I... here until... wake up, Ash... So don't... too long... because..."

Those are the last words of the young lady before she ever continued her sleep filled with peace and sorrow, in his thought, at least.

"Thank you, every-"

"Eh?"

Or so it seems... Ash, immediately realized that the young lady woke up.

"Serena."

The head of the young lady turned away from the patient to the direction of the bed where her head leaned on.

"Ash, are you awake?"

"Yeah, I am, Serena."

"This is not the Dream World, is it?"

"Dream World...? What do you meant about that? I haven't seen either a Cresselia or a Darkrai here... Or so I thought," replied Ash scratching his head and looking up in that white ceiling of the large room.

"Huh?"

"Good morning, Serena."

Serena, slowly turned her head up towards the direction of the patient.

"A... Ash!"

Serena immediately followed that with an embrace - such embrace so tight that she could not do it if she thinks of Ash being her crush.

"Thank goodness!"

Because of Serena's sudden act, Ash was understandably surprised when she did that.

Yet his response to that was a genuine smile.

After all, anything grim had happened towards anyone within Lumiose City, a city known for its landmarks and sceneries - which now turned into a city almost ruined by its destruction.

* * *

 _ **Continue on:**_ _ **Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor**_ _ **Part II**_

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 38: Kalos League Victory! Ash's Ultimate Match!  
 **[2]** Pokemon DP Episode 171: Togekiss Dance! The Princess's Pokémon Contest!  
 **[3]** Pokemon BW Episode 90 - Pokemon BW Episode 93  
 **[3]** Compare the results between Pokemon XYZ Episode 20: Elle VS Serena! Open the Door to the Future! and Pokemon XYZ Episode 38: Kalos League Victory! Ash's Ultimate Match!  
 **[4]** Pokemon Advanced Generations Main Cast  
 **[5]** Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Main Cast  
 **[6]** Pokemon Best Wishes Main Cast  
 **[7]** Pokemon XY Episode 25: Cyllage Gym Battle! Pikachu VS Tyrunt!  
 **[8]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 32 - Pokemon XYZ Episode 38  
 **[9]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 39 - Pokemon XYZ Episode 43


	5. Unexpected Visitor II

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 _ _ **Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor Part II**__

* * *

"A... Ash!"

Serena immediately followed that with a tight embrace.

"Thank goodness!"

Because of Serena's sudden act, Ash was surprised for that. Yet his response to that was a genuine smile as he notably heard her cries for some reason he knew and remembered.

"Does your back still hurt, Ash?"

"No… I do not feel anything bad right now."

"I see…"

Ash was about to put one of his arms on her back and the other on her head to be patted in response to that sudden action of Serena.

"P, Pikapika…"

"Good morning, everyone…"

"Good morning! I, It is time for another day of rebuilding."

""Huh?""

Serena and Ash turned their heads towards the owners of those voices.

"Pika?!"

"Waaah... Serena?! What are you doing?!"

"Serena had...!?"

"Waaah!"

Serena felt surprised as she slowly pulled herself away from Ash and formally sits beside him on the bed. Ash's Pikachu, Clemont and Bonnie felt surprised seeing Serena hugging Ash like that. Even then, Bonnie then giggled afterwards. However, when they realized the reason for that act done by Serena:

"Good morning, Pikachu. Good morning, Clemont, Bonnie. Good morning, everyone..." said Ash as he waved his left hand to the others.

"Pikapi!" said Pikachu jumped towards Ash's shoulders.

"How are you, Pikachu?" asked Ash as he patted his little yellow rodent companion's head gently.

"Chaaaaa~"

"Now I see why Serena do that," said Bonnie as she remarked about such action from Serena and then she smiled, "good morning, Ash."

"Denedene," said Dedenne as it appeared in Bonnie's little yellow pouch.

"You're finally awake, Ash! It had been three days since you fell asleep like that," said Clemont who then looked towards the window for some reason.

"Huh? Three days? Did I really sleep like that?"

"Pikapi, Pika!" said Pikachu while wearily smiled back at its owner.

"You have gotten that long enough, Ash. There has been a lot of things that had happened these three days while you were asleep."

"So I really slept long enough to do that, Serena, Pikachu," said Ash while scratching his head, in which Serena and Pikachu still smiled at him in response.

"Yes, I know, Ash. But more importantly, the incident with Team Flare had changed everything in everyone's lives."

Everyone of them looked at the window to see at the view of some parts of Lumiose City that will be required to be reformed for months before it gained its former beauty.

"The dark vines caused by Z2 who was under the control of Team Flare might have been gone, but the damage it caused to the city and to everyone's lives in Kalos will be permanent." said Clemont who then clearly remembered what had happened to some of their certain friends which made both of the siblings looked sad.

Anyone who was awake on that time only felt sadness hearing it.

"Squishy. Clembot." added Serena remembering such crucial events within the Team Flare incident.

Even Ash cannot react at anything on that time. He may not knew what had actually happened to them, but seeing the expressions on everyone else's faces, specifically Clemont and Bonnie, made his silence a better action for him to do so.

 _There's nothing to do to make them back here, isn't it, Clemont, Bonnie?_ He thought.

"Anyways, let's get prepared. Don't worry, Ash. Clembot has been repaired to its full condition. I only hoped for its return," replied Clemont with an eventual smile. Then Ash complimented.

"Oh really?! That's great for you, Clemont!"

"Thank you, Ash!"

"You know, big brother, Serena, Ash, I do not have anything to be saddened here. I should be a proud trainer for Squishy."

"You're right, Bonnie. Squishy and Z2 are really a powerful force to reckoned with. If only Ash was awake on that time..."

"Hmm..."

At this point, Ash felt clearly clueless about what had happened after a certain incident happened.

* * *

As the time on a certain clock is already 6:45 AM, every other Pokemon on that room had already been awaken by Serena, Pikachu and Dedenne. Clemont and Bonnie are now preparing things for a certain important reason that was connected to the city itself - especially to Prism Tower, the location of Lumiose City Gym.

"Yacha! Chamachama!"

"Rimarimari!"

"Hopbee…"

"Niyaa…"

As usual, on one hand, Pancham and Chespin are making arguments to one another about something, much to Bunnelby's and Sylveon's dismay.

"Barraam!"

"Chamachama!"

"Arrr!"

"Tiyana!"

On the other hand, there were Noivern and Hawlucha who have felt excitement about their current work for this day in Braixen's and Talonflame's amusement.

Ash, who is still in his bed, looked at his Pokemon and realized.

"Hey, wait a minute. Where's Greninja?"

"Huh? Greninja?"

"Pika?"

Ash asked towards the others about Greninja, something that Serena and Pikachu immediately did notice.

"Greninja undergoes a special recovery at Lumiose City's Pokemon Center."

"What do you mean special recovery, Serena?"

"Don't worry about it, Ash."

"Pikapi, pika!"

Serena and Pikachu give him an assured smile afterwards whereas Bonnie eventually felt extreme sadness while Ash asked about the bipedal frog Pokemon for some reason.

"Thank you, Serena, Pikachu. Can I able to see Greninja then?"

"Not now, Ash. Not until the doctor allowed you to be discharged here. For now-"

"But I am strong enough-"

Serena clearly gives him a certain warning as she waved her right hand forward with her index finger pointing upwards. Pikachu, on the other hand, turned itself to go to the other Pokemon to do something.

"Just follow the doctor, Ash! Otherwise, your backpain might return if you don't follow the his advice. You definitely still need a plenty of rest."

"I… I understand."

As Serena and Ash are talking about the latter's health condition…

"Pikapika, Pikapikapi!"

Pikachu was seen to be commanding to other Pokemon concerning about something Ash had no idea about it. The other Pokemon seemed to follow his command.

Upon noticing though, Ash asked the others…

"What are Pikachu and the others are doing?"

"These last few days, our Pokemon are volunteering to help the other citizens of Lumiose City like us on its recovery," said Clemont who already put on his backpack and smiled for an assurance, along with Bonnie who already put her little yellow pouch's long handle to her right shoulders, "they are such a great help in the slow recovery of the Prism Tower, although it definitely required more manpower to do the right thing."

"Pikapikachu! Pikapika!"

The roars of their Pokemon heard around the room as a response when Pikachu commands them in connection with what Clemont had said.

"Pikapi! Pikapikachu!"

Pikachu came back to Ash to say something now that Ash is awake.

"I know, Pikachu. You had really been grown up as a leader now and thank you."

"Chaaaaa~"

Ash was then seen to carefully patted Pikachu's head again as well as the others of his Pokemon came to him closely.

"Thank you, everyone. Don't worry, I will be following you soon enough, so will Greninja."

"Pikapika, Pikapi!"

"Chamma!"

"Arrrr!"

"Barraaam!"

"Memmel!"

"Tiyanaa!"

"Yacham! Yachayacha!"

"Niyaa…"

"I know, you can do it, Braixen, Pancham, Sylveon!"

Serena put on a geniune smile to them as she knew that her Pokemon are going to help in rebuilding the city as well…

For Serena, that would also mean:

"Pikapika, Pikapi!"

"Ash, Serena, we will be right back in the afternoon," said Clemont who, along with his younger sister and the other Pokemon, are about to leave the two in that hospital room alone. Bonnie was notably giggling about her thoughts about Serena's feelings towards someone, one thing the latter didn't even realize.

"I understand."

"Take a good care of Ash, Serena!" said Bonnie whose voice was heard in a teaseful manner.

"Denedene…"

"Ah! Bonnie!"

"What do you mean by that, Bonnie?"

"Pika?"

"What is it, Bonnie?"

"You two are really dense at this kind of matter. You are really such boys, after all, big brother, Ash." [1]

Clearly, Ash and Clemont have really yet to understand Serena's feelings towards the person whom she admired for. After all, it was all to anyone but said that she really loves him. Only a matter of time - more time, to be specific - before she might have tell her longing feelings to someone whom she admired for.

"Pikapika!"

"Anyway, see you later, Ash, Serena."

"Bye-bye! Hehe…"

"Denedene!"

At that point, almost everyone had finally left the room to work for such recovery of the tower, with only Serena and Ash remained behind. Ash then looked at the outside through the window away from looking to Serena who will continually taking care of him for the whole day, seemingly thinking about something.

"Tell me, Serena."

"Huh?"

"Tell me about what had happened after I got unconscious when I saved you and Manon/Mairin from that fall in Prisma Tower. Where is Alan and Mairin now? How was Greninja's condition?" said Ash who then looked at Serena with feeling of concern in his eyes.

"Huh?" Serena, upon noticing such concern in his eyes, then replied with a genuine smile, "I understand, Ash. I will tell you anything that had happened after you got unconscious for these three long days."

* * *

 _"Adaptation._

 _The very word one can only hear to the dazzling metropolis of art and artifice being located at the very heart of Kalos Region, known as the Lumiose City, the location of the recently-finished Kalos League Conference. Though, in reality, such word is already spread to everyone around the world._

 _Destruction and chaos caused such action to be done by anyone - both humans and Pokemon. It is like they needed to follow a certain law that was already written within everyone's minds. After all, the city is only filled with sorrow - an effect caused by destroying lives in order to achieve a certain goal - and hope - an effect caused by everyone working to recover from such destruction._

 _Because of this, everyone can only work in order to adapt into the nature of so-called the beautiful world that Lysandre hoped to create. And because of this, such incident also made wake-up call not only to the city residents, but also to everyone in Kalos Region."_

* * *

It had been afternoon... somewhere between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM.

While a certain TV documentary is currently broadcasted throughout the Kalos Region, various activities in connection to recovery had been taken place around the city. These includes medical missions, reconstructions and the like.

For instance, at the Lumiose City News Press located in Estival Avenue, a certain professional photographer Viola, Santalune City Gym Leader, along with her Vivillion and her Masquerain, helped her older sister Alexa and her co-workers to recover everything from certain printed materials to the confidential information kept by the press itself.

"So, I did not know you may that kind of relationship with the sports enthusiast. You did not even tell me about it, Viola."

"Huh?"

The older sister eventually started a certain conversation about a certain person, giving the younger sister a curious smile, much to the photographer's surprise.

"I saw that on the television, after all."

"Do you mean with the Gym Leader of the Cyllage City? You got it all wrong, big sister. I and some of the Gym Leaders in our region did what we had to do. That's all," said Viola while shrugging her shoulders, thinking about what happened back in a certain place near Anistar City.

"Excuse me, Miss..."

"Alexa, a reporter for the Lumiose City News Press. Who are you?"

The reporter then shook hands with a certain uniquely thigh-length blonde-haired young woman sporting white dress, black and white leggings and shoes, and then the latter answered the former's question."

"I'm Lusamine..."

* * *

Like Viola, various Gym Leaders who also joined the cause to prevent Lysandre and his plans dominating the world responded to Lumiose City's sudden upheaval.

At the Ristorante Second-Rate located in Autumnal Avenue, one of the restaurant's chefs, Siebold, served Cyllage City Gym Leader Grant and Lavarre City Gym Leader Valerie who are tired since they helped the citizens in the reconstruction.

And at the same time, as they observed the currently reconstructed Lumiose City, Valerie begins a certain conversation to them:

"This kind of change, it is one thing I don't like it, but we need to adapt in it."

"Lysandre and his ambition to create a beautiful world. I admire such dream," said Grant who seemed to be worried about him, "but seeking for it is truly impossible as I realized."

"I agree. Lysandre's understanding of that dream he has means an attempt towards destruction of this world," said Valerie who notably speaks the language in different accent. Such accent is well-known as the one used by the residents of the Ecruteak City in the Johto Region.

Eventually, the chef joined the conversation as he gave the two more drinks, being put on their table.

"Lysandre sought a work of art that he wanted but anyone else but his followers cannot accept such fate. Not that people cannot understand what a beautiful world means, but rather it is about their concern in maintaining a world that is already beautiful enough."

"So, that should mean anything that was much more than it needed is an abuse, isn't it, chef?"

"Maybe."

The fashion designer then remembered a certain incident in her mind.

"Malva."

"Malva? You mean that Elite Four member? Isn't she connected to him and the Team Flare?" replied Grant who then eventually thought about the well-known reporter of a certain network.

"Yes, maybe she is. But the apparent action of Team Flare made her realized about its mistake. Even so, she will undergo the interrogation towards the investigation concerning the incident."

"Now, I wonder if she could able to make it out."

"Yeah, I wonder, Valerie, Grant. I hoped she would though."

After some time of talking about the Fire-type Elite Four of Kalos, Valerie proceeded to talk about a certain topic while giving off a thoughtful smile.

"What's with you and Viola, Grant?"

"What's with that question, Valerie?"

"That is nothing. I am quite curious of it," replied Valerie, giving him a simple grin, much to Grant's dismay.

* * *

At the Restaurant Rolling Dreamer, the four Furisode Girls who are aspiring fashion designers working under Cyllage City Gym Leader Valerie, namely Kali, Blossom, Katherine and Linnea, are seen helping the restaurant to be recovered as well along with their Pokemon. Kali was seen being accompanied with her Azumarill and her Froslass; Blossom with her Gardevoir and her Scizor; Katherine with her Slurpuff and her Cherrim; and Linnea with her Aromatisse and her Ludicolo, in fixing the problems within the restaurant, as well as giving clothes for the victims of the incident of Team Flare within the city - many of which are street children.

"Thank you!"

"No problem, young lass."

As the street children received outfits from this group of people, Blossom started to speak about something to Linnea and Kali as they observed at Katherine's actions.

"Isn't it Katherine more energetic than ever before?"

"Katherine, huh? Really?"

"Maybe she had someone she liked, Linnea, Blossom."

"Huh?! Really?!"

"But who's the lucky guy?!"

Hearing such words from black-haired Furisode clearly made the other two Furisode acted with curiosity on their eyes.

"It might be one of those participants of the recent Kalos League Conference."

"Which one? Was he Alan, the conference champion?! Or was he Ash, the runner-up?! Or was it anything else?!"

"Who knows? Being the youngest of our group, it would be easier for her to do that."

The three then looked back at Katherine, who was rather smiling brightly as she gives certain children some clothes. Such energetic tone to Katherine eventually changed though when another young girl came to the white-haired Furisode.

"I hope I could find my parents, miss."

"What is it you are saying, young lass?"

"I cannot find them! I... I miss them! I love my parents!"

Such street child cried like she was hurt by a life-threatening injury. After all, her fate is even worse than death. Making her adapt to the new nature of this world will be a hard one for the lost child. The cry itself then affected every other street children around the four Furisode.

The Furisode only replied to such message with tight embraces to some of them. Nothing can be done, indeed.

"I know... I understand what you mean, young lass."

Katherine's only words to say towards the young girl whom she kept in a tight embrace.

* * *

Before Clemont, Bonnie, Pikachu and the others had arrived to Prism Tower, they headed to the Pokemon Center, where Ash's Greninja underwent a special recovery.

Clemont and Bonnie, upon witnessing the fate of two of their close friends three days ago, are now adapting to this new world created by the destruction. In fact, nothing can be done to revive them.

On that time, in one of the certain rooms within the building, every one of the Pokemon owned by the Kalos gang have casual conversations with one another.

"Pikapika, pikachu?"

"Denedene!"

"Kouga. Koug?"

Greninja then patted Dedenne's little head as it assured that the former's fine that the latter came close for an attempt to use Nuzzle to the former for some reason.

"Pikapi, pika."

"Denedene."

"Mel! Mel! Numeru!"

"Dene. Dene."

It seemed that Goodra had given Dedenne a reminder for a certain reason, much to Dedenne's dismay.

"Chabba-chabba!"

"Arr-arrrait!"

"Baaan, baaan!"

"Naumel."

"Koug, kouga."

"Tiyana?"

"Niya."

"Pika?"

"Koug."

Pikachu and the others somehow had been talking about Ash's condition, in which Greninja felt excited as well as worry. After all, it had been three days since Greninja haven't seen its own trainer due to the special recovery given to him.

"Chhhama!"

"Rimarima."

"Koug."

Notably, Clemont's Chespin and Serena's Pancham seemed to be concerned about anything that might affect Ash's Greninja. But Greninja seemed to be fine once again as an assurance.

As these Pokemon are making conversations to one another about Ash's health condition, Clemont and Bonnie are watching them from a distance as Nurse Joy approached them.

"In how many days Greninja can be discharge, Nurse Joy?"

"Another check-up will happen for the next two days. So it is best to make Greninja stay here a little more time."

"I see. Was that connected to that incident?"

"Do you mean Greninja using that new move against Team Flare in the Gym, big brother?"

Bonnie notably felt sad as she said this, much to the worry of her big brother. After all, she clearly remembered what had happened to Greninja and Squishy three days ago.

"Yes, Clemont, Bonnie. Aside from the face-off of the two Zygarde and their fusion together, it was also my first time too to encounter such powerful move being used by any other Pokemon when I watched it in the television here. I am assured that move isn't either one of Hydro Pump and Water Spout."

"It might have something to do with Squishy's-"

"It seemed to be, Bonnie. Such action by Squishy had unlocked Greninja's greatest potential. I hoped Serena could tell Ash about it."

After Bonnie agreed to her older brother's suggestion, the three humans then looked at the interactions between their Pokemon who are seemingly making stories about their experiences in the incident three years ago and sharing it with Greninja about anything else it might have not known.

"You know, big brother. This might take a while before we can able to continue on the Prism Tower."

"I am aware of it, Bonnie," said Clemont who was still watching their Pokemon's interactions.

 _Such move also reminded me of Mairin's Chespie who also used another powerful move after Z-2 did that to it in order to fully recover Chespie._

Clemont thought as he remembered what happened to Chespie and Z-2, as well as the latter's fate and the former's 'complete' recovery...

"So there you are, Clemont, Bonnie!"

A certain female voice was heard by the three humans. They looked back to see the owner of that happy voice. However, for Bonnie

"Why are you here, Lillia!?"

"What a coincidence, Lillia."

Whil Clemont felt happy to see Lillia of the Orange Logo Inc. in this city, Bonnie felt surprised with this. Quite a danger for Bonnie.

* * *

 _"Will there be an ultimate peace to be attained between humans and Pokemon? I do not think so... but I only hoped. Good day..."_

In the Lumiose City Airport, there are three certain members of Team Rocket who send messages of "help and unity" throughout the region during the Team Flare incident.

"Still, I wonder why our boss, Giovanni, did that?"

"I have no idea about it. Our boss can't just decide to do that without a good reason."

"Maybe it has something to do with what happened here in Lumiose City. Isn't it our decision to broadcast such event can call up the attention of its viewers especially those trainers in Kalos?"

On this time, Jessie, James and a white cat Meowth are leaving Kalos to return to Kanto Region - to where the Team Rocket headquarters based on. Jessie and James notably wear vacation outfits - clearly different from their usual Team Rocket ones.

"You're right, Meowth... If it wasn't for those actions we did, there will be a shortage of trainers here in Lumiose City... or rather, that is even worse than that."

"Sooonansu!"

"Huh?"

Jessie just sighed as her Wobbuffet voluntarily gets out of its Pokeball without its trainer's notice. Not that she never noticed that, it only happened and Jessie get used to it.

"Anyway, we should head back immediately and report to the boss about the incident related to this city... no, to this region."

""You are right!""

"Sooonansu!"

 _"For an important news for the strong Pokemon trainers, the decennially Pokemon World Tournament was announced to be held at the Alola Region..."_

As the Rocket trio continued walking towards the departure area, a certain youthful looking woman and a certain orange-haired young lady noticed them as they immediately go to the lobby of the airport - and heading towards a certain place in Lumiose City.

"Aren't they the Rocket trio, madam?"

"Huh? Oh, these three who constantly interfered my son's journey along the way. Is my son no longer here in Kalos? I hoped I could still find him here."

"Yeah, I hoped he is still in that place for us to visit too. After all, it had been a long time. It really is-"

Just before the orange-haired young lady was about to speak more, a tugging sound was heard beside her. As she looked at her side, she saw her mahogany-haired older female companion sitting on the ground being aided by a certain black-haired older male stranger to stand up. She shouted as she then decided to help her as well.

"M, Madam!"

"I'm sorry... I'm only in a hurry right now," said the stranger to the mahogany-haired woman who was still holding his hands for her to stand up.

"N, No, I'm fine. I understand," said the mahogany-haired woman who then gave the stranger a genuine smile. However, after few seconds, somehow, she snapped a little bit as she continued, much to the orange-haired lady's wonder:

"By any chance, do I know you?"

"Huh? What are you saying, lady?"

"N, Nothing, sir. I'm only just wondering. Thanks, by the way."

After some time, the mahogany-haired woman and the orange-haired lady continued their trip to find a certain raven-haired trainer in their way.

* * *

 _ _ **Continue on:**__ _ _ **Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor **____**Part III**__

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Pokemon XY Episode 80: Braixen and Pancham! A Captivating Fiery Performance!


	6. Unexpected Visitor III

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 _ **Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor Part II** **I**_

* * *

A battle had occurred between a certain blue four-legged disc-shaped robot, Metagross, and a certain green hedgehog, Chespin, in a plain-like battlefield while the sun at its zenith.

Such battle is already disadvantageous for the slightly-hurt hedgehog due to the robot's superior battling experiences, including being a fully-evolved Pokemon. However, the hedgehog is quite determined to win this one; thus, its will to continue to head on against the four-legged robot.

At this moment, the robotic Pokemon's body glows azure and tucks its two arms in and points them at the little hedgehog, who was prepared to do a reaction. It then charges full speed at the opponent while spinning clockwise and surrounded in an azure aura, sounding like a small but speedy celestial body. Unfortunately for the robot Pokemon, the chestnut-headed hedgehog furiously jumped high enough for it to be unable to reach by a comet's strike.

While in mid-air, the determined Spiny Nut Pokemon turned towards the serious Iron Leg Pokemon and two light verdane vines come out from each side of its head. The hedgehog lengthened those vines further to reach out the robot. The latter, realizing that its opponent is no longer at the range of its fast attack, eventually stopped such forward strike, but the thin vines successfully entangled to its back legs, making it easier for the hedgehog to make an attempt in landing towards the blue robot's head.

Metagross turned back in an attempt to remove the vines from its legs and to forcefully swing down Chespin near it.

But such attempt was proven to be unsuccessful as the unwavering hedgehog held ground firmly with its vines still attached. So the robot Pokemon then glowed in an icy aura again, but Chespin returned its vines on its back while making assurance that these vines are still tightly attached to its legs, shortening the distance between it and the metallic robot until the hedgehog finally reached the robot's head.

The metallic robot proceeded to create momentum to speed itself up again, but the firmly-attached spiky nut-headed mammal immediately fires multiple seeds on the ground in front of the two of them. These seeds immediately grew into vines - an attempt to bind the sentient robot in it. Even though the speedy Metagross had been able to take itself out of such traps by cutting through those vines that Chespin produce simultaneously, its speed slowly lowered down until it stopped at a certain point. At that time, an already exhausted Chespin tightly latched onto the troubled Metagross, causing the former to finally drain energy from the latter. The injured yet still-determined Chespin nodded as it immediately glows itself in a verdane aura.

"Chespie, are you able to do that move?!"

It was a young crimson-haired female trainer that shouted towards the green hedgehog. Said aura should possibly be an indication that a certain powerful move was about to unleash.

"Do it now, Chespie!"

As the rookie trainer commanded, a field of floras was then created slowly around the lifeless battlefield and at that point, the still-attached Chespin unleashed a powerful glowing verdane beam onto the sky above it and the Metagross. When such beam comes down towards the two, Chespin de-attached itself from the trapped Metagross and jumped out of the robot. Because of it, as the large verdane beam came back down, such beam hit the Metagross and created an explosion resembling a blooming flower.

Such move made the vines - and the field of floras around the blast area - completely annihilated at the process - an equivalent of a certain destruction.

Despite the metallic robot having more experience in battle than the hedgehog, it was enough for Chespin to hurt Metagross more than expected for an obvious one-sided match-up. However, Chespin was exhausted already before it even unleashed that move against the robot, and thus is enough to make it not winning against Metagross.

"That's marvelous. Anyway, that's enough."

It was a certain raven-haired male adult in a purple formal wear who gave a halt to the battle between Metagross and Chespin. Such person is the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos Region, Professor Sycamore, a scientist known for its research in Mega Evolution. On this time, he is accompanied by a certain beige-haired female adult in an aquamarine formal wear, Sophie, one of his two Pokemon assistants.

"Good job, Metagross. Take a rest now."

The metallic robot wearily agreed before being brought back to its Pokeball by a certain raven-haired man in black jacket. Such man is the person who won the recently finished Kalos League Conference, Alain - and is one of the people responsible for the sudden strike in the city, albeit he never realized such until it is late. The young female trainer, along with the Chespin, came to him afterwards and said:

"How's is it, Alain?"

"That was a powerful one, Chespie," replied Alain, giving her an assured smile while gently patting the Chespin's head, "If it wasn't for Metagross' Steel typing, it would have been fainted in battle. How did Chespie really get that attack?"

"That was also the same move that damaged the Megalith Zygarde, Alain, wasn't it, Professor?"

"Yes," answered Professor Sycamore as he and his assistant came near to them by the time the young female trainer asked. He then gave a certain thought towards Alain, "not only Mairin's Chespie can able to do such attack, but also the Greninja that Ash owned can perform the same feat as well."

"Wait. Professor, do you mean that Greninja's powerful strike to the Megalith Zygarde? I have witnessed that glowing aura from the Greninja. That is, even Ash himself saved Mairin and that young lady he travelled with from that fall."

"Yes. Then I guess I should consult the Pokemon Professors from the other regions about it... but most importantly, Professor Kukui?"

"Professor Kukui... Who is he?"

As Alain and Professor Sycamore exchanged words about the powerful moves and a person named Professor Kukui, Sophie looked at Mairin, realizing that the latter felt bad about one thing and said:

"You don't have to worry about it much, Mairin. He should be fine by now," said Sophie who gave her a genuine smile. Chespie nodded for that as well, which was then followed by Professor Sycamore and Alain carefully observing their interactions.

"But... is it really possible for him to survive that?"

"Be positive. I and Professor Sycamore... or much better to say, everyone in this city witnessed the same thing when he dived down from the top of the tower during the day he first arrived in this region, saving his Pikachu despite the risks of doing so."

"The strong bonds between him and his friends can possibly be a reason for a Pokemon trainer like Ash to survive such danger - a thought I always remember from Professor Oak during one of his visits in this region," added Professor Sycamore as an attempt to lessen Mairin's worries about a certain event that saved both her, Chespie and Serena from a certain helicopter's destruction, "that's the same to you, Alain, and your Pokemon."

"Strong bonds," said Alain while wondering about one thing, "Charizard and I really have that special bond that is why it can mega-evolve. Even so, that is also something I owe to the leader who did such destruction to this city with his plans."

With that, Mairin agreed as well, while Chespie had no clue about that. After all, the hedgehog was under comatose long before and during the Team Flare's sudden strike.

"There is no such things as either good intentions or bad ones when it comes to strong bonds between humans and Pokemon. You have witness Lysandre using a Mega Gyarados, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Loyalty can be a factor in trainers having strong bonds with their Pokemon, regardless of intentions. After all, Pokemon like Lysandre's Gyarados believed in his words, making it joining in his cause," said Professor Sycamore as he looked at their surroundings - the battlefield within the Lumiose City Stadium, the location of the recently finished Kalos League Conference, ruined by the sudden manipulation of nature by a brainwashed 50% form Zygarde named Z2.

"I see. My bond with my Pokemon... They were no lies indeed."

"In your case, you only follow what's right in your mind, Alain," said Professor Sycamore while patting Alain's shoulders, "your Pokemon then followed you no matter the circumstances."

Alain then bowed down thinking of something.

"We should visit him again to the hospital in this city. I still hope he should be awake by now, sir. We will be formally thanking him, Serena and his friends for their aid with us."

"That's better, Mairin," agreed the smiling Professor Sycamore as Chespie and his assistant followed suit, nodding at them as well.

Eventually, the former assistant of this region's Pokemon Professor looked at them and asked:

"Professor Sycamore, can I have a rematch with Ash?"

An interesting question indeed that made everyone else surprised. However, Professor Sycamore replies while giving him a confident smile.

"Knowing an apparent hero like Ash, I could only think of one answer for that."

* * *

The time on a certain clock of a certain hospital room is 3:00 PM.

 _"Stop it!"_

 _"That hurts! Gently please."_

 _"Hmhmhmha..."_

 _"No more. I've come alone. So release the girls right now!"_

 _"Hahaha... You sure are naive! Get him!"_

"Wait, Serena... Do you remember that short movie?"

"Huh? Oh yes, I remember that, Ash. Those times that we helped Director Frank for that Pikachu movie. We sure had a good time there, especially Pikachu."

On that time, Ash, the patient, and Serena, his temporarily guardian, are currently watching a short movie, _The Lightning-Fast Hero, Super Pikachu_ [1] _,_ on TV. Notably, Serena, who sits beside Ash's bed, is the one who holds the TV's remote control, while Ash, now wearing his usual sleeping outfit, is currently eating fruits.

 _"Well it's true that none of us have super powers or the ability to take flight. But we do have the will to protect our land together. It's called the power of unity!"_

"So what do you think of Director Frank now?"

"I'm sure he, Miss Jean and the flock of Pikachu must be happy with this. It's really a refreshing movie to watch."

Both of them smiled at one another after such response. Eventually, the topic immediately changed as Ash proceeded to talk about something.

"Professor Sycamore should have an answer about that."

"Huh? Do you mean Greninja's newly gained power?"

"Yeah. I hope I could see that too. I don't even know its name to make Greninja use that."

"I see. Then do you have any plan about it?"

"Hmm... No, not yet. Besides, you told me to wait until the hospital decided to discharge me then, so I will be going to prioritize my recovery for now."

"T, That's good to hear, Ash."

"... And even if I am able to get out, I would be staying here for a while, Serena."

"H. Huh? W, What do yo-" said Serena as she thinks about something but eventually realized his thought, "I knew it. This city needed everyone's cooperation. You are who you are, after all. A hero and an inspiration."

"A hero? An inspiration? What do you mean?"

"Furthermore, according to the news, even the Gym Leaders like Wulfric and Ramos are here to help the city too," said Serena who seemed to not listen Ash on that time.

"Eh? Really? I hope they could have pay visit here."

"Well, I cannot make sure about it. Other than everyone we knew who helped back there, there can't be anyone who had known everything about the whole story and not everyone would believe in any hero's story."

"Hero's story? I am confused here."

After Ash had asked, Serena quietly smiled and somehow showed shades of pink on her cheeks on everything she had said. After all, her right hand was holding on Ash's right hand for all of their conversation.

"That's nothing, Ash."

Despite not really having clues about her reaction, Ash only smiled about it as he finished eating some of the fruits prepared for him.

 _"Now then, I must go!"_

 _"And so the majesty of Super Pikachu's unrelenting courage along with that of the brave and proud of everyone saved Pikachu Land... And they lived happily ever after."_

As the movie had come to an end, Serena eventually said something:

"Ash, can I ask one question?"

"Yes, you can. Then what is it, Serena?"

Serena's smile was replaced with some sort of worry as she asked:

"What does it mean to be a Kalos Queen?"

With that, Satoshi immediately replaced his smile with confusion about it.

"What do you mean by that, Serena? Is there something that bothered you about your dreams of becoming one?"

"That's not it, Ash. I mean... Is there any reason for me to become one... to be the Kalos Queen?"

"Hmm... I do not get it," said Ash while scratching his head in confusion.

"I mean, I always thought there should be one queen in her own kingdom... and there is no room for the other queen to stay and lead the same kingdom."

"Huh?"

After some time of thinking and realizing such thought, Ash eventually asked:

"Now that I think about it, you're right. You are a great Pokemon Performer to me, Serena. But the title of Kalos Queen should belong to Miss Elle."

"..."

"After all, she _is_ the Kalos Queen. Everyone in Kalos and maybe some others from the other regions know her as one. Nobody could replace her in the title because... That's what I thought... Maybe I could find a better explanation to this as I am not a knowledgeable person when it comes to Tripokalon Tournament. I hope that could helped."

On that time, Serena holds their connected hands more tightly for some reason.

"So I cannot really be a Kalos Queen, can I, Ash?"

"You can't be one... but you... no, everyone around you can create a title of your own, Serena, for as long as you inspire people to pursue their dreams, just like I pursue mine as a Pokemon Master for anyone else to follow, and make their own titles as well. There's no stopping for our dreams to come true, Serena. "

Serena felt more surprised on his words and his response to her previous action by holding her hand more tightly in return - which she immediately thought it is more of what Ash said rather than a slim possibility of Ash reciprocating her own feelings - and, after a few seconds, said with a genuine smile:

"I thank you, Ash. I really thank you. You are really a great... special friend to me. That's what I mean when I said 'a hero and an inspiration'."

"Special friend? A hero and an inspiration? W, What are you talking about, Serena?"

 _Huh? Don't make any haste, Serena. Maybe not today... Someday, he'll realized these feelings of mine and with that, he..._ "H, Huh? T, that's nothing, Ash. I only mean what I mean. That's all."

Upon hearing such words, the patient only sighed and said, "I thought you could say something more considering your actions. I hope I could hear your thoughts right now."

The guardian shook her head as she said, "No. It is not needed now. What's important is the present, isn't it, Ash?"

"I... I understand. Then I will be looking forward for that day, Serena!"

After the patient said that, he smiled at her, in which it made her surprised even more. After all, such smile is something she's very familiar with - a smile that he showed during their first meeting as childhood acquaintances, if not childhood friends, in Professor Oak's Pallet Town Summer Camp. [2]

She then looked at her right hand, which is still tightly connected with his. However, she could still not know what made Ash to tightly hold her hand as such, even if her thought about that is all about what comes to his mind more than anything. She's not a psychic like Olympia and her students in Anistar City Gym to begin with.

"I know. I will be going to say everything to you on that day, Ash. I..."

"It has been a while, Ash, Serena!"

Before the guardian could say something, they both eventually looked at a certain familiar golden-haired lady who had just entered the room for some reason.

"Huh? You're..."

"... Korrina!"

The visitor just only gave a joyful smile as a response to their surprises.

* * *

 _ **Continue on: Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor Part IV**_

* * *

 _WRITER'S NOTE:_

 _Ace Trainer Alan  
_ Metagross - None  
Type: Steel/Psychic  
Ability: Clear Body  
\- Meteor Mash (Steel; Physical)  
\- Psyshock (Psychic; Special)  
\- Agility (Psychic; Status)  
\- Rock Slide (Rock; Physical)

 _Rookie Trainer Mairin  
_ Chespie (Chespin) - None  
Type: Grass  
Ability: Overgrow  
\- Vine Whip (Grass; Physical)  
\- Leech Seed (Grass; Status)  
\- Toxic (Poison; Status)  
\- Pin Missile (Bug; Physical)  
Z-Move: Bloom Doom (Grass)

For now, good day and happy reading.

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Pokemon XY Episode 78: Pikachu Becomes a Star!? Its Movie Debut! /How to Pikachu The Movie! OK! Action! / The Lightning-fast Hero! Super Pikachu! / Pikachu's Shocking Bloopers  
 **[2]** Pokemon XY Episode 07: Leave it to Serena!? The Charging Rhyhorn Race!


	7. Unexpected Visitor IV

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 _ **Chapter 01: The Unexpected Visitor Part IV**_

* * *

It is almost afternoon as a certain cab passed through various roads within Lumiose City. Within it are two passengers feeling worried while observing the surroundings filled with sorrow and hope. One of them - the orange-haired young lady - now felt sleepy this time for some certain understandable reason. The brown-haired woman asked the lady:

"Are you alright?"

"Y, Yes, madam... Somehow, it will take time before I could adjust from this."

"That's understandable. After all, we are on the other side of the world... where our mornings will be our evenings and vice-versa."

"Y, Yes... I see..."

So this is what had really happened here. I hoped my son and his friends should be fine," said the certain brown-haired woman as she carefully observed the surroundings, including observing a certain uniquely-curled purple-haired dark-skinned woman and her two Meowstic of opposite genders helping the others in rebuilding certain establishments, such as the Lumiose Museum of Arts, a large white building that houses many paintings of people and Pokemon.

"D, Do you really know where to find Ash now, madam?"

"No," said the woman, shaking her head slowly, "we may not able to find Ash much faster. But we can definitely know where he would possibly go if he stayed here."

"Do you mean that tower?"

The young lady curiously points her right index finger to a certain large nearly-fallen tower still far away from where they are at this time.

"Yes, it is."

After some time of noticing the city's current condition, the cab driver had decided to take the two passengers to a certain street near the mentioned tower, much to their worries and thanks at the same time. As the cab had left them behind, the young lady spoke while looking at the tower in awe.

"So this is the Prisma Tower, huh?"

"Yes. My son told me in one of his calls that it also functioned as a Gym too, like the Striaton Restaurant in the Unova Region."

"This Gym is owned by one of his companions, right?"

"You're right, dear. But for now..."

On that time, the pony-tailed orange-haired young lady and the brown-haired woman looked up at the nearby currently-reformed Prisma Tower. This well-known landmark in the Kalos Region is also reconstructed by the cooperation of both humans and Pokemon like most of the establishments in the city.

"It is really too bad. We can only walk from where the cab had stopped by."

"It can't be helped. The roads isn't in good condition too, so that's understandable anyway. But you know, this must be the best place to find my son."

The woman can't really helped but to make a weak smile at the young lady, who had changed expressions from worried to surprised.

"W, What do you mean, madam?"

"That's...!"

""Huh?""

Such voice is clearly came from a certain young man rather either of the two newcomers to the Kalos Region. Thus, their reactions are understandable.

"Pikapika?"

"Denedenne?"

"Who are you referring to, big brother?!"

"Hopbee?"

"Mimiro!"

"Rimari?"

"Yacha?"

"There she is, Bonnie."

The two newcomers then searched the source of those voices, only to find out that such voices came from the nerd-looking young man, his outgoing younger sister, a normal-looking young lady in glasses and six certain Pokemon who are seemingly just came out of the Prisma Tower, based on the newly-repaired electronic doors slowly closed. Notably, a Chespin and a Pancham still felt jealous seeing a happy Buneary with the responsible Bunnelby. Eventually, everyone but the Gym Leader himself are happily waving their hands towards to the woman as well as shouting her name. The Gym Leader only felt glad to see said woman. The woman also waved her right hand in return.

"Who are they, madam?"

The orange-haired lady confusingly asked towards the woman. However, the woman only felt excitement as she finally saw one of those people whom she wanted to see here in the Kalos Region.

"Like you, they are my son's travelling companions too. So let's go and meet them."

"Eh? Do you mean...? O, Okay!"

With that, the woman and the young lady had properly had finally met two of Ash's travelling companions, the siblings Clemont and Bonnie, along with a certain young lady, Lillia. [1] Misty eventually felt unsure upon seeing Lillia's appearance at first. However, she shrugged it off and only smiled afterwards.

"Pika? Pikachupi!"

Just after the two newcomers came towards the golden-haired siblings, the already-excited Pikachu felt much more of that excitement as it immediately jumps towards the orange-haired young lady, who then hugged the yellow rodent back, much to everyone else's surprise.

"How are you now, Pikachu? You are still strong and full of energy, just like your trainer," said the young lady as she gently touched the happy yellow rodent's head.

"Chaa!"

"Uhm... We are glad to personally meet you here, Mrs. Delia!"

"Me too! I'm really happy even if this is unexpected!"

"Denne!"

Clemont, Bonnie and Dedenne said these as they finally get to meet the woman named Delia. The confusion apparently joined into Lillia's thoughts though because of that.

"You're right, Clemont, Bonnie. This meeting is truly unexpected. Seeing the headlines about the incident in this city made me worry about my son," said Delia while giving off a joyful smile.

"Clemont, who is that woman?"

"Ah, I forgot to tell you as it was really unexpected that this happened, after all, Lillia," said Clemont who only scratched his head and weakly smiled with the unexpected meeting, "Lillia, this is Mrs. Delia, Ash's mother."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Delia. I am Lillia, the daughter of the president of the Orange Logo," said the smiling brunette while introducing herself to the woman.

"Orange Logo, huh? I heard on the news that it is the world's number one robot manufacturing company, didn't it, Lillia?"

"Yes, it is, madam."

While the conversation between the woman Delia and the young lady Lillia continued, the orange-haired young lady, on the other hand, was still seen to be embracing the Pikachu, much the others' amusement.

"Pikachu must be really glad to see you... Uhmm..." said the golden-haired lad as he realized he had never met that orange-haired young lady. The little sister nodded and followed her brother.

"Uhmm... Who are you, big sis?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you to her. Anyway, this is Misty, Cerulean City's Gym Leader and one of Ash's old friends," replied Delia, introducing the orange-haired young lady to them.

"I am Clemont and this is my sister..."

"Bonnie! This is my little Dedenne!"

"Dennedene!"

"Once again, I am Lillia."

"Chama!"

"Rima!"

"Hopbee!"

"Miroro!"

The orange-haired young lady immediately shook hands with the three residents of the Kalos Region and their Pokemon, who gave off smiles in return.

"Nice to meet you, Misty," replied Clemont while he and Misty shook one another's right hand. He continued, "you must be one of the former companions of our friend Ash, mustn't you?"

"Yes, I am. I was able to travel with him and someone else for quite a while from Kanto Region to Johto Region to improve myself in becoming a competent Water-type trainer that I am today. With that experience, I am able more able to give difficult fights to the different trainers in order for them to get the Cascade Badge from them. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!"

Misty said such words proudly enough to show her prowess as the Cerulean City Gym Leader, which made Pikachu to answer proudly as well.

"You are like my brother when it comes to Pokemon battles as a Gym Leader!"

"Huh?"

Bonnie immediately joined the conversation between the two Gym Leaders, feeling excited on her interest towards Misty's compassion towards Pokemon battles.

"He also gives difficult battles to his opponents whenever he entered one, especially when the trainers are aiming for the badge!"

"No, that's not the right statement, Bonnie. Gym Leaders give their every important strategy to their battles so the trainers who also give their best will felt satisfied on defeating us as well. That's what I experienced when Ash fought me for the Voltage Badge few months ago. Do you remember that, Bonnie?"

With that, Bonnie then immediately took a thought about what her older brother had told her. She remembered Ash's battles against various Gym Leaders, including her brother.

"I don't understand what you say, big brother... But even if I do not know about the experience of battling against trainers, I witnessed every Gym battle Ash encountered where he and the Gym Leaders are always smiling at the end of their battles. Is that what you mean?"

"You're correct, Bonnie," replied Clemont which then followed by Bonnie giving a genuine smile, "am I right about that one, Misty?"

"Yes, you're right. That's what I always felt whenever I got to challenge trainers."

As the conversation about experiences for Gym Battles continued, Delia immediately interrupted such talk as she curiously asked:

"By the way, where's my son now? Is he here? I hope I could see him here now."

"Our friend Ash is in the city hospital, Mrs. Delia," replied Clemont showing a thoughtful smile, "he needed some rest after everything that had happened these days."

"Do you mean Ash is the person who saved the day then, Clemont?!"

Misty immediately entered the conversation once again as she heard Clemont's answer.

"Huh? Y, Yeah, kinda like that."

"But from what I saw in the television, some of the well-known strongest trainers in Kalos had participated in that one particular fight. That was too great and interesting to see those people fighting together to save Kalos. I wish I could fight too like Clemont did," replied Lillia, feeling envy about what she's talking about.

"Don't worry, Lillia. For as long as you know the actions while that happens, you are still helping anyone as well."

"Thank you, Cle-"

"Denenene... Nenenenenenenene!"

Dedenne immediately jumps towards Lillia's cheeks and then rubs its cheeks repeatedly until the little mouse generates static electricity, which made the mouse to nuzzle its cheeks against Lillia's, shocking her afterwards. As Dedenne got away from Lillia and jumped back to Bonnie through her hands, Lillia only felt paralyzed afterwards, much to everyone else's worries.

"Dedenne! How could you do such thing again?! Apologize to her!"

Naturally, Clemont felt anger about what Dedenne did to Lillia once again.

"Denne!"

"A, Are you alright, Lillia?"

"I, I am fine, Clemont. Do not worry about this. I am quite used to this now. Hahaha..."

"Chama-chama?"

"Rimarima..."

"Hopbee, hopbee?"

"Mimiroll..."

"Nice one, Dedenne," said Bonnie in a murmured yet satisfied tone, secretly complimenting Dedenne in a certain task only the two of them knew. After all, she had a history about one of her attempts to have someone marry her older brother that ended up creating backfire on her. Such attempt involved the Orange Logo's president's daughter, Lillia. Even now, Serena's Pancham, Clemont's Chespin, Clemont's Bunnelby and Lillia's Buneary also felt clueless about that matter.

"Denenne!"

"What happened, Clemont, Lillia?"

Delia immediately asked about it, feeling completely clueless with that.

"We don't know. But Dedenne immediately came in like that to Lillia just like first time we, Ash and Serena met her-"

"Serena?!"

""""Huh?""""

"Pika?"

"Denne?"

"Miro?"

"Hopbee?"

"Rima?"

"Yacha?"

The one who immediately called Serena's name was Misty, much to everyone else's surprise. Clemont then immediately asked her:

"Misty, do you know something about Serena?"

"Huh? Ah, no... I mean, I just remember about her. Maybe that's why I am somewhat feeling uncomfortable seeing Lillia."

Lillia only felt confused about it which made her to asked something:

"Huh? What do you mean about that, Misty? What's wrong?"

"I thought you were one of Ash's companions here in the Kalos Region. I got it wrong though."

"No," said Lillia as she shook her head slowly, "I traveled with Clemont and his companions for a short while for some reason. But I never had made travels with the four of them for quite a long time similar on what you said on your travels with Ash in the regions of Kanto and Johto."

"I'm sorry, Lillia," said Misty as she bowed down her head towards the still-confused Lillia.

"I, I understand."

"Now that Misty mentioned Serena... Where is she?"

Delia immediately followed suit, asking a certain question about her. Bonnie excitedly answered such question, showing off a sly grin to others, including Misty had her head up already.

"Serena's alone with Ash, since she's _his guardian_ after all!"

"Denedenne."

""Huh?""

"Bonnie means that she stays behind to take care of Ash while we are working for the recovery of the city," said Clemont, trying to give Misty and Delia a better answer.

"I see. You know it would be a big surprise for Ash and Serena to see me, Ash's mother, visiting them."

"I agree with that, Mrs. Delia."

"I wonder how Ash will reacted once he saw me there," said Misty in a mellowed tone, slightly bowing her head down in excitement and blushing. Such tone is much different to the usual energetic tone that she had before, "I guess he should be happy about this."

"Hmmm..."

On that time, Bonnie noticed that action from Misty, which immediately surprised her a bit. The only other time she noticed someone doing that towards Ash is none other than Serena, whom the little girl knows that the Pokemon Performer harbored feelings towards the Kalos League Conference's runner-up. She eventually came up with one inference on the orange-haired lady's actions, after all.

* * *

On that afternoon, a certain yellow-haired lady in white dress named Lusamine went to the front of a certain store owned by the father of Lumiose City Gym Leader, Meyer and watched a certain segment of a certain talk show on television:

 _"Ultra Beasts? Do you believe in their existence, Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet?"_

 _"Yes. Even if that might look like a theory to anyone else, We already knew about it. In fact, We... no, many have found evidences about that matter for a long time."_

 _"What do you mean, Professor Kukui?"_

 _"It is quite confidential that I cannot really show such evidences to everyone on-screen. But most importantly, those evidences are living creatures too, knowing the will to survive the laws of nature is an important factor to them as well."_

 _"I see."_

"Hmmm..."

Lusamine felt interested in this topic called the Ultra Beasts. However...

"So who's the lucky guy, Katherine?!"

"Huh?! Why are we going to talk about that, Blossom?! I thought we are going to talk about designing more clothes for the lost children here in Lumiose City. Just like that little girl whom got lost from her parents during that incident."

"Just tell us, Katherine."

"Huh?! You too, Kali?! Please help me, Linnea!"

"No way. Just the guy's name is important, Katherine."

"Hmmm..."

The four furisode-wearing girls who worked under Valerie in Lavarre City Gym as fashion designers slowly approaching towards her as they talked about an important matter for the three of them, much to white-haired furisode's dismay. Notably, this group of fashion designers now wears casual clothes instead of the usual kimono that they wore during their working period.

"Okay, I lost to the three of you then. It cannot be helped though," said Katherine, feeling defeated after all of the eventual actions of her friends. She then stopped walking and immediately blushed as she continued:

"His name is Ash..."

As the guy's name was revealed, everyone near her, including Lusamine, eventually paid their attention to her, which then gave her butterflies in her stomach. Then, Kali then proceeded:

"Ash? Do you mean the Kalos League Conference's runner-up?"

"Huh? Yes, he is," said Katherine maintaining such soft voice since the reveal of the guy's name to the other co-workers, "is there any problem with that, Blossom, Linnea, Kali?"

"No. You know what, I already have expectations that you might like that guy, Katherine. A great trainer and a hero that he is, like our manager."

"He really is, Kali! If it wasn't from the work there in our Gym, I might be able to personally watch all of his battles in the Kalos League!"

"Then ask him for a date!"

"Wait!"

Katherine's clearly bouncing off the walls saying those words. But her expression changed as she continued:

"I could have also tried that but right now, I don't even know where to meet him. Isn't the live coverage cut off during the battle against that giant moving Zygarde? I only wanted to give him a big thanks if I could meet him somehow."

"You should have asked the manager about that. She might knew Ash's whereabouts right now."

"I know. I... just forgot to do so, Blossom."

"Do you really mean to meet Ash? I knew where that person is right now."

The yellow-haired lady then confidently entered to the conversation, much to the surprise of the four girls.

"Is it really true, Miss-?"

"Lusamine... In fact, I am also about to go to meet him there too."

"Then, I will go with you, Miss Lusamine!"

* * *

"We're almost there, Mrs. Delia, Misty!"

"I know about that, Clemont. I wonder what Ash's reaction looked like when he saw his mother coming here in Kalos Region."

"Me too, madam."

As the sun was about to set, Mrs. Delia, Misty, Clemont, Bonnie, Lillia and some of the Pokemon are now heading towards the hospital in the city where Ash has gone for recovery as well as Serena taking care of him. Notably, Lillia's Buneary was now seen being accompanied by Clemont's Bunnelby and Chespin and Serena's Pancham - different from the situation that had happened before - with all of them expressing happiness to one another, which made Ash's Pikachu and Clemont's Dedenne felt satisfied as well. Eventually, as they are about to enter to the hospital...

"Look! It's Professor Sycamore and the others!"

""""Huh?""""

"There they are!"

While the others wondered for a bit for the sudden change in their conversations, Clemont happily points his finger towards a certain group of familiar people, with two of them - Professor Sycamore and Mairin - happily waving their hands back to Clemont's group.

As the two groups finally meet up with one another in the entrance to the hospital, the Pokemon Professor immediately proceeded to start a new conversation.

"It has been marvelously quite a while, Clemont, Bonnie."

"I felt the same too, Professor."

"Me too! Me too!"

"Rimarima!"

"Rimarimarimarima~"

"Pikapika..."

Clemont's Chespin also excitedly shook its hands to Mairin's Chespie who only felt dizzy while doing so in return, much to the other Pokemon's dismay.

"Oh, it seemed we got some new faces here, Clemont."

"Yes. You're right, Professor," said the Lumiose City's Gym Leader as he quickly introduced the two groups to one another, "they are Mrs. Delia, Ash's mother, and Misty, Cerulean City Gym Leader in Kanto Region. Misty, Mrs. Delia, they are Professor Sycamore, the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos Region, Sophie and Alain, two of his assistants, and Mairin, a rookie trainer."

"Nice to meet you, everyone."

"It is an honor to meet you too, Mrs. Delia. Even though I did not travel along with Ash's group, I myself had witnessed his development in our region."

"Yes. Then first of all, I really thanked you for guiding my son in his journey here. We had been exchanging calls since he travelled here and he had told about the Pokemon Summer Camp here in Kalos." [2]

"Oh, the Pokemon Summer Camp. Yes, I led the summer school to the same goal as the one with Professor Oak of the Kanto Region."

"'To build an even deeper bond with your Pokémon through your interactions with other trainers', right, Professor?"

"Aside from replacing trainers with young children in Professor Oak's case, you're right."

"After all, aside from running the Pallet House in our town, I was also one of Professor Oak's students, so I am well-aware of his works."

"I remember Ash and Serena telling me and Bonnie that they both attended one of the Pokemon Summer Camps when they were younger," said Clemont, recalling a certain past where Ash, Clemont and Bonnie met Serena in Santalune City (or in Ash's case, it is his and Serena's second meeting). [3]

"Yes. There are a lot of things that had happened there, but the most important part is that every child had experience what they needed to learn in the camp. Hence, the reason on my son's love to Pokemon."

"I see. So that's how it goes, Mrs. Delia."

While the others are making conversations about the summer camp, Misty realized something about one of the members of the other group - the raven-haired trainer, to be specific.

"Aren't you the winner of the Kalos Region Conference, Alain?"

"Yes, I am."

"That was such close battle between you and Ash."

"If it wasn't for my Charizard's fortitude in that battle, Ash's Greninja could have won. But that's really a close battle for the two of us to get the same goal for different reasons."

"Different reasons?"

"That's a different story, Cerulean City Gym Leader."

"But, Misty, that was also one of the only times I saw Alain felt very satisfied in any Pokemon battle," added Mairin feeling excited on her thoughts.

"I see. Then, can we have a Pokemon battle later, Alain?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your Charizard and my Gyarados... That's what I mean," said Misty while showing off a certain catalyst to Alain who then felt slightly excited once again upon showing such catalyst - the Keystone.

After some time, Delia then proceeded to talk to everyone about something.

"Shall we proceed to meet Ash now, Professor?"

"Yes, I agree. The evening made an appearance already."

* * *

"Shhh... Be quiet or else Ash will not be surprised with this."

"Big brother, you're the one who was noisy, you know!"

"Dene!"

Clemont speaks cautiously to the two groups as they are about to get into Ash's room on that hospital where they met one another, much to the dismay of his younger sister. However...

"Pika? Pika Pikapi..."

Pikachu felt unease about something as it hurriedly leaps away from the door of Ash's room for some reason. Misty then followed the yellow mouse.

"Pikachu, where are you going?"

"Pika... Pika... Pika..."

"Misty? Pikachu?"

"I'll be right back, madam. I'll get Pikachu," said Misty waving her hand to the others as she followed Pikachu elsewhere.

"Okay..."

"Alright! Here it goes! One! Two!"

Clemont excitedly proceeded to open the door to Ash's room.

However...

"That's not Ash who was stayed there, Clemont."

"NO WAY!"

Just like Ash's mother had said, Clemont made a mistake...

* * *

After some time, as a certain show was shown in the television of a certain hospital room...

 _"After ten years, the Pokemon World Tournament will be once again going to happen four months from now. The following rules for this..."_

"A, A, Ash! C, C, Can I invite you to have a date with me?!"

It was a certain white-haired lady named Katherine who shouted such words towards the patient of that room, much to the surprise of everyone else - everyone but five, that is, who happened to be the yellow-haired lady in white dress named Lusamine who only sighed on Katherine's actions; the white-haired girl's friends, Kali, Blossom and Linnea, who only smiled about that moment; and Pikachu, who was rather clueless about what had happened as it just came to the door of Ash's room - the real deal. However, the ones who were most shocked about it...

""D, Date?!""

... were the guardian of the patient Ash, Serena, and a certain newcomer, Misty.

"This is not good, I think," said Lusamine in a weak voice even if she smiled about the moment.

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter: Chapter 02: A Small Link To The Past**_

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 21: A Bride for Clemont!? Bonnie's S'il-vous-plaît Panic!  
 **[2]** Pokemon XY Episode 39: Pokémon Summer Camp! Enter the Rival Trio!  
 **[3]** Pokemon XY Episode 05: The Santalune Gym Battle! The Magnificent Vivillon's Dance Battle!


	8. EX 1: Characters Part I

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series**_

* * *

 _ **EX CHAPTER 1: The Characters Part I: Main Characters, Travelling Companions, Pokemon Professors and Well-Known Strongest Regional Trainers (Regions of Kanto, Orange, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos)**_

* * *

 _ **Main Characters:**_

 _ **Ash/Satoshi.**_ The 14-year-old selfless main character of the story and someone who explores the world to discover new things about Pokemon, like his father and his grandfather did before him. His main goal in life is to become the world's greatest Pokemon Master. After a certain conversation with a certain girl, he started to seek answers for a certain question: _What does being the world's greatest Pokemon Master really mean?_ **  
** _Current line-up:_ Pikachu, Greninja, Noivern, Talonflame, Goodra, Hawlucha

 _ **Adam/Kei.**_ The chairperson of a certain organization called Aether Foundation located at a certain artificial island called the Aether Paradise in the Alola Region.  
 _Current line-up:_ Pikachu, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Delia/Hanako.**_ 32-year-old mother of Ash. She runs Pallet Town's only restaurant, Pallet House, which she inherited from her mother. When she was younger, she dreamed of becoming both a model and a Pokemon Trainer, but abandoned those dreams to run the restaurant after Ash was born. The reason why she raised Ash by herself is that his father married her fast and then left just as fast due to his being a Pokemon Trainer. The reason he and Ash's grandfather didn't return is because they achieved nothing in their goals... This is despite the fact that Ash was about to take the same direction as her husband and Ash's grandfather.

 _ **Serena.**_ A 14-year-old kind and polite Pokemon Performer who started out without a specific goal in life. Through her travels with Ash and others, whom she had grown deep affection for, her main goal in life now is to make everyone showing their smiles in their faces with her performances. As she separated ways from Ash in their journey in the Kalos Region long ago, in every Performance that she participated leaves her a fragment of a certain question. After all, she constantly thinks that she chases into same path with Ash despite the different directions they both took. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Braixen, Sylveon, Pancham, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Lillie.** A mysterious girl who assisted Professor Kukui for personal reasons. She is a girl that loves Pokémon, but is unable to touch them for some reason. Her knowledge of Pokémon is top-notch.

 _ **Supporting Characters:  
**_

 _ **Ash's Travelling Partners/Specific Friends**_

 _ **Brock/Takeshi.**_ A 18-year-old Pokemon Doctor from Pewter City and a former traveling partner of Ash in four regions. **  
**

 _ **Misty/Kasumi.** **See** "Kanto Region's Strongest Gym Leaders"_ ** _  
_**

 _ **Tracey/Kenji.**_ A 18-year-old Pokémon watcher and a former traveling companion of Ash from the Orange Region. **  
**

 _ **May/Haruka.**_ A 13-year-old Pokémon Coordinator and a former traveling companion of Ash in the Hoenn Region. **  
**

 **Max/Masato.** A 10-year-old Pokemon Trainer and a former traveling companion of Ash in the Hoenn Region. He is the younger brother of May. **  
**

 _ **Dawn/Hikari.**_ A 12-year-old Pokemon Coordinator and a former traveling companion of Ash and Brock in the Sinnoh Region. **  
**

 _ **Cilan/Dent.** **See** "Unova Region's Strongest Gym Leaders"_ **  
**

 _ **Iris.** **See** "Unova Region's Strongest Gym Leaders"_ **  
**

 ** _Serena._ _See_** _"Main Characters"._

 _ **Clemont/Citron.** **See** "Kalos Region's Strongest Gym Leaders"_ **  
**

 _ **Bonnie/Eureka.**_ An 8-year-old aspiring Pokémon Trainer and a former traveling companion of Ash in the Kalos Region. She is the younger sister of Clemont. **  
**

 **Lillie.** ** _See_** _"Main Characters"._

 **Mallow/Mao.** An expert with Grass-type Pokemon. She's an active girl who's also a bit of a scatterbrain. She helps out at the a certain cafeteria her family runs by attracting customers to come in and eat.

 **Lana/Suiren.** An expert with Water-type Pokemon who is dedicated to her family and a reliable older sister who watches over her younger sisters. While she's usually quiet, she's actually a girl of action. ** _  
_**

 **Sophocles/Mamane.** An Electric-type Pokemon specialist. He is also a science nerd with a vast knowledge of technology. When he gets into something, he analyzes the subject very thoroughly.

 **Kiawe/Kaki.** A Fire-type Pokemon specialist. He studies the traditional dances of the Alola Region as well as his family runs a farm, so he helps out there while also attending school. ** _  
_**

 _ **Pokemon Professors**_

 _ **Professor Oak/Dr. Orchid.**_ A Pokemon Professor who lives and works at his research lab in Pallet Town of the Kanto Region. He concentrates on Pokemon and human relationships as a profession. **  
**

 **Professor Ivy/Dr Uchikido.** A Pokemon Professor who resides on Valencia Island in the Orange Region with her three assistants, Charity, Hope and Faith. Her field of research is in regional differences in Pokémon physiology **  
**

 **Professor Elm/Dr. Utsugi.** A Pokemon Professor who lives and works in New Bark Town in the Johto region. He studies unusual Pokémon Abilities. He also specializes in Pokemon breeding, and is credited with the discovery of Pokemon Eggs. **  
**

 **Professor Birch/Dr. Odamaki.** A Pokemon Professor who lives and works in Littleroot Town and the Hoenn region. He specializes in Pokemon habitats and distribution.

 **Professor Rowan/Dr. Nanakamado.** A Pokemon Professor who lives and works in Sandgem Town in the Sinnoh region. He specializes in Pokemon evolution. **  
**

 **Professor Carolina/Dr. Karashina.** A Pokemon Professor who is the head of the Celestic Town Historical Research Center. She is the Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia's grandmother.

 **Professor A. Juniper/Dr. Araragi.** A Pokemon Professor who lives and works in Nuvema Town in the Unova region. She specializes in the origins of Pokemon. **  
**

 **Professor C. Junipe/Dr. Araragi.** Professor Aurea Juniper's father. He specializes in Pokemon distribution and biology.

 **Professor Fennel/Dr. Makomo.** A friend of Professor A. Juniper who specializes in studying Pokemon Trainers and Pokemon dreams. **  
**

 _ **Professor Sycamore/Dr. Platane.**_ A Pokemon Professor who lives and works in Lumiose City in the Sinnoh region. He specializes in Pokemon evolution, specifically on the Mega Evolution.

 _ **Professor Kukui/Dr. Kukui.**_ A Pokemon Professor who lives and works in the Alola region. His area of expertise is Pokemon moves, and is known to take direct hits from them if he thinks he can learn something about them.

 _ **Kanto Region's Strongest Gym Leaders**_

 **Forrest/Jiro.** The Rock-type Gym Leader of Pewter City. The second son of Flint and Lola, Brock's parents. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Rhyperior, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Misty/Kasumi.**_ The Water-type Gym Leader of Cerulean City. She had once traveled with Ash since the beginning of his journey until they made separate paths after their journey in the Johto Region. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Gyarados, Politoed, Kingdra, Seaking, Azumarill, Golduck **  
**

 **Surge/Matthis.** The Electric-type Gym Leader of Vermillion City. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Raichu, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Erika.** The Grass-type Gym Leader of Celadon City. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Tangrowth, Victreebell, Bellossom, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Sabrina/Natsume.** The Psychic-type Gym Leader of Saffron City. She currently took part in Pokestar Studios in Unova Region as the Magic Queen Bellelba, a villain of the _Mysterious Doors of the Magical Kingdom._ **  
** _Current line-up:_ Alakazam, Gengar, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Kiyo.** The newly-appointed Fighting-type Gym Leader of Lavender Town. He was once the Gym Leader of Saffron City until his privileges as one was given to Sabrina after his defeat in one certain battle against her, prior to Ash's journey through Kanto Region. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Hitmontop, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Janine/Anzu.**_ The newly-appointed Poison-type Gym Leader of Fuschia City, replacing her father who had become one of the Elite Four of the Indigo Pokemon League. **  
** _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Blaine/Katsura.** The Fire-type Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Ninetales, Rhyperior, Magmortar, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Gary/Shigeru.**_ The newly-appointed Gym Leader of Viridian City. Once a rival of Ash during his travels from Kanto Region to Johto Region, he becomes a Pokemon researcher helping his grandfather, Professor Oak, in his works. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Electivire, Blastoise, Umbreon, Magmortar, Kingdra, Scizor

 _ **Orange Region's Strongest Gym Leaders**_

 **Cissy/Atsumi.** The Water-type Gym Leader of Mikan Island. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Kingdra, Blastoise, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Danny/Dan.** The Gym Leader of Navel Island. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Nidoqueen, Machamp, Scizor, Electrode, Golem, ?.?.?.

 **Rudy/Jigi.** The Gym Leader of Trovita Island. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Electivire, Exeggutor (Alola), Starmie, Hitmonchan, Rhyperior, Pidgeot

 **Luana/Ruriko.** The Gym Leader of Kumquat Island. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Alakazam, Marowak (Alola), ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Drake/Yuuji.** The Head Gym Leader of the Orange Archipelago. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Ditto, Steelix, Gengar, Venusaur, Electivire, Dragonite

 _ **Johto Region's Strongest Gym Leaders**_

 _ **Falkner/Hayato.**_ The Flying-type Gym Leader of Violet City. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Noctowl, Dodrio, Pidgeot, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Bugsy/Tsukushi.** The Bug-type Gym Leader of Azalea Town. **  
** _Current line-up:_ Ariados, Butterfree, Scizor, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Whitney/Akane.** The Normal-type Gym Leader of Goldenrod City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Clefable, Nidoqueen, Miltank, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Morty/Matsuba.** The Ghost-type Gym Leader of Ecruteak City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Gengar, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Chuck/Shijima.** The Fighting-type Gym Leader of Cianwood City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Poliwrath, Machamp, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Jasmine/Mikan.** The Steel-type Gym Leader of Olivine City. She eventually took up the path of becoming a Pokemon Performer as she entered different Pokemon Showcases in Sinnoh Region along with her Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Ampharos, Steelix, Magnezone, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Pryce/Yanagi.** The Ice-type Gym Leader of Mahogany Town.  
 _Current line-up:_ Mamoswine, Dewgong, Cloyster, Lapras, ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Clair/Ibuki.** The Dragon-type Gym Leader of Blackthorn City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Dragonite, Gyarados, Kingdra, Druddigon, ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Indigo League Elite Four and Champion**_

 **Lorelei/Kanna.** An Elite Four member specialized in Ice-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Jynx, Cloyster, Dewgong, Slowbro, ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Will/Itsuki.** A newly-appointed Elite Four member specialized in Psychic-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Koga/Kyou.** A newly-appointed Elite Four member specialized in Poison-type Pokemon. He is a student of ninjutsu and was once a Gym Leader of Fuschia City, in which he gave the privilege to his daughter.  
 _Current line-up:_ Venomoth, Crobat, Scizor, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Agatha/Kikuko.** An Elite Four member specialized in Ghost-type Pokemon. _  
Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Bruno/Shiba.** An Elite Four member specialized in Fighting-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Steelix, Hitmonchan, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Karen/Karin.** An Elite Four member specialized in Dark-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Lance/Wataru.** The newly-appointed Indigo League Pokemon Champion.  
 _Current line-up:_ Gyarados, Dragonite, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Hoenn Region's Strongest Gym Leaders**_

 **Roxanne/Tsutsuji.** The Rock-type Gym Leader of Rustboro City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Probopass, Golem, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Brawly/Toki.** The Fighting-type Gym Leader of Dewford City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Hariyama, Machamp, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Wattson/Tessen.** The Electric-type Gym Leader of Mauville City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Magnezone, Electrode, Manectric, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Flannery/Asuna.** The Fire-type Gym Leader of Lavaridge Town.  
 _Current line-up:_ Torkoal, Magcargo, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Norman/Senri.**_ The Normal-type Gym Leader of Petalburg City. The father of May and Max, two of the previous traveling partners of Ash in Hoenn Region.  
 _Current line-up:_ Slaking, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Winona/Nagi.** The Flying-type Gym Leader of Fortree City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Swellow, Skarmory, Altaria, Pelipper, ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Lisa/Ran.** One of the two Psychic-type Gym Leaders of Mossdeep City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Lunatone, Claydol, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Tate/Fu.** One of the two Psychic-type Gym Leaders of Mossdeep City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Solrock, Claydol, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Juan/Adan.** The Water-type Gym Leader of Sootopolis City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Milotic, Walrein, Seaking, Whiscash, Kingdra, Masquerain **  
**

 _ **Hoenn League Elite Four and Champion**_

 **Sidney/Kagetsu.** An Elite Four member specialized in Dark-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Phoebe/Fuyo.** An Elite Four member specialized in Ghost-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Glacia/Prim.** An Elite Four member specialized in Ice-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Drake/Genji.** An Elite Four member specialized in Dragon-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Salamence, Altaria, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Steven/Daigo.**_ The Hoenn League Pokemon Champion.  
 _Current line-up:_ Metagross, Aggron, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Hoenn/Kanto Battle Frontier Brains**_

 **Noland/Datsura.** The Factory Head of the Hoenn Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Articuno, Venusaur, Machamp, Golduck, Breloom, Manectric

 **Greta/Kogomi.** The Arena Captain of the Hoenn Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Medicham, Hariyama, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Tucker/Heath.** The Dome Superstar of the Hoenn Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Swampert, Arcanine, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Lucy/Asami.** The Pike Queen of the Hoenn Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Seviper, Milotic, Snorlax, Musharna, Mamoswine, Delcatty

 **Spenser/Ukon.** The Palace Guardian of the Hoenn Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Venusaur, Blissey, Shiftry, Claydol, ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Brandon/Jindai.** The Pyramid King of the Hoenn Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Solrock, Ninjask, Dusknoir

 **Anabel/Lila.** The Tower Tycoon of the Hoenn Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Metagross, Espeon, Alakazam, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Sinnoh Region's Strongest Gym Leaders**_

 **Roark/Hyota.** The Rock-type Gym Leader of Oreburgh City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Rampardos,Golem, Steelix, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Gardenia/Natane.** The Grass-type Gym Leader of Eterna City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Roserade, Cacturne, Torterra, Cherrim, Bellossom, Victreebell

 **Fantina/Melissa.** The Ghost-type Gym Leader of Hearthome City. Like most of the female Contest Coordinators, she also walked to the path of a Pokemon Performers with the aid of her Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Mismagius, Gengar, Drifblim, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Maylene/Sumomo.** The Fighting-type Gym Leader of Veilstone City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Lucario, Machamp, Medicham, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Crasher Wake/Maximum Mask.** The Water-type Gym Leader of Pastoria City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Floatzel, Gyarados, Quagsire, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Byron/Togan.** The Steel-type Gym Leader of Canalave City. The father of Roark of Oreburgh City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Bastiodon, Steelix, Bronzong, Omastar, Cradily, Armaldo **  
**

 **Candice/Suzuna.** The Ice-type Gym Leader of Snowpoint City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Abomasnow, Medicham, Weavile, Dodrio, ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Volkner/Denji.** The Electric-type Gym Leader of Sunnyshore City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Raichu, Luxray, Electivire, Jolteon, ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Sinnoh League Elite Four and Champion**_

 **Aaron/Ryou.** An Elite Four member specialized in Bug-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Drapion, Beautifly, Vespiquen, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Bertha/Kikuno.** An Elite Four member specialized in Ground-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Hippowdon, Gliscor, Golem, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Flint/Oba.** An Elite Four member specialized in Fire-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Infernape, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Lucian/Goyo.** An Elite Four member specialized in Psychic-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Bronzong, Girafarig, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Cynthia/Shirona.** The Sinnoh League Pokemon Champion.  
 _Current line-up:_ Garchomp, Gastrodon, Glaceon, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Sinnoh/Johto Battle Frontier Brains**_

 **Palmer/Kurutsogu.** The Tower Tycoon of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ Dragonite, Milotic, Rhyperior, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Dahlia.** The Arcade Star of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Thorton/Nejiki.** The Factory Head of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Darach/Kokuran.** The Castle Valet of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Argenta/Keito.** The Hall Matron of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Unova Region's Strongest Gym Leaders**_

 _ **Cilan/Dent.**_ One of the three Gym Leaders of Striaton City, specialized in Grass-type Pokemon. He was one of Ash's previous travelling partners in the Unova Region.  
 _Current line-up:_ Simisage, Crustle, Stunfisk, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Chili/Pod.** One of the three Gym Leaders of Striaton City, specialized in Fire-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Simisear, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Cress/Corn.** One of the three Gym Leaders of Striaton City, specialized in Water-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Simipour, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Cheren.** The Normal-type Gym Leader of Aspertia City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Stoutland, Sunflora, Cincinno, Luxray, ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Lenora/Aloe.** The Normal-type Gym Leader of Nacrene City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Watchog, Stoutland, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Roxie/Homika.** The Poison-type Gym Leader of Virbank City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Garbodor, Weezing, Scolipede, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Burgh/Arti.** The Bug-type Gym Leader of Castelia City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Leavanny, Crustle, Scolipede, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 **Elesa/Kamitsure.** The Electric-type Gym Leader of Nimbasa City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Zebstrika, Emolga, Eelektross, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Clay/Yakon.** The Ground-type Gym Leader of Driftveil City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Krookodile, Seismitoad, Excadrill, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Skyla/Fuuro.** The Flying-type Gym Leader of Mistralton City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Swoobat, Swanna, Unfezant, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Brycen/Hachiku.** The Ice-type Gym Leader of Icirrus City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Beartic, Vanilluxe, Cryogonal, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Iris.**_ The Dragon-type Gym Leader of Opelucid City. She was one of Ash's previous travelling partners in the Unova Region.  
 _Current line-up:_ Haxorus, Dragonite, Emolga, Excadrill, Garchomp, ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Marlon/Shizui.** The Water-type Gym Leader of Humilau City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Wailord, Jellicent, Mantine, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Unova League Elite Four and Champion**_

 **Shauntal/Shikimi.** An Elite Four member specialized in Fighting-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Grimsley/Giima.** An Elite Four member specialized in Fighting-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Caitlin/Cattleya.** An Elite Four member specialized in Fighting-type Pokemon. She is also the master of the Castle Valet Darach in the Battle Frontier of the Sinnoh Region and the Johto Region.  
 _Current line-up:_ Gothitelle, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Marshal/Renbu.** An Elite Four member specialized in Fighting-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Alder/Adeku.** The Unova League Pokemon Champion.  
 _Current line-up:_ Bouffalant, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Kalos Region's Strongest Gym Leaders**_

 _ **Viola.**_ The Bug-type Gym Leader of Santalune City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Vivillion, Masquerain, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Grant/Zakuro.**_ The Rock-type Gym Leader of Cyllage City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Tyrantrum, Steelix, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Korrina/Koruni.**_ The Fighting-type Gym Leader of Shalour City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Lucario, Mienshao, Machamp, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Ramos/Fukuji.**_ The Grass-type Gym Leader of Coumarine City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Gogoat, Victreebell, Jumpluff, Sunflora, Exeggutor, Vileplume **  
**

 _ **Clemont/Citron.**_ The Electric-type Gym Leader of Lumiose City. He was one of the previous travelling partners of Ash in the Kalos Region, along with his younger sister, Bonnie.  
 _Current line-up:_ Luxray, Heliolisk, Diggersby, Magnezone, Chesnaught, ?.?.?.

 _ **Valerie/Mache.**_ The Fairy-type Gym Leader of Lavarre City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Mawile, Sylveon, Aromatisse, Mr. Mime, ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Olympia/Gojika.**_ The Psychic-type Gym Leader of Anistar City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Meowstic (F), Meowstic (M), ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Wulfric/Urup.**_ The Ice-type Gym Leader of Snowbelle City.  
 _Current line-up:_ Abomasnow, Avalugg, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Kalos League Elite Four and Champion**_

 **Wikstrom/Zenpi.** An Elite Four member specialized in Steel-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 **Drasna.** An Elite Four member specialized in Dragon-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?. **  
**

 _ **Malva/Pachira.**_ An Elite Four member specialized in Fire-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Houndoom, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Siebold/Zumi.**_ An Elite Four member specialized in Water-type Pokemon.  
 _Current line-up:_ Blastoise, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

 _ **Diantha/Carnet.**_ The Kalos League Pokemon Champion.  
 _Current line-up:_ Gardevoir, ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?., ?.?.?.

* * *

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER: Chapter 02: The Small Link To The Past (CHAPTERS 008-011)**_

* * *

 _WRITER'S NOTE_

 _The Pokemon line-up I put on certain trainers are based on their line-up used in the anime. So, if one thought why I put a Nidoqueen on Whitney's line-up even if Nidoqueen is Poison/Ground-type, not Normal-type, it is because Nidoqueen was used by Whitney in the anime (as Nidorina [Poison] by the way). The same thing with Candice's Medicham (used in Ash's Gym battle against her) and Dodrio (used as her transportation)._

 _Anyways, see you next time!_


	9. Small Link To The Past I

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _**Part II**_

* * *

The date is May 16, 20XX.

At a certain room in a certain hotel containing two queen-sized beds and many other hotel-related furnitures was the orange-haired female Gym Leader of the Cerulean City, now in her own sea-themed sleeping outfit, still stayed awake for some reason despite the time on a certain wall clock within the room is 2:00 AM.

"I can't get used to this immediately, can I? I guess I should read some magazines here, unlike madam."

She then did what she had needed to do and read some of the articles in a certain familiar magazine called the 'Pokemon Journal', one of those articles tackled about the biographies of most of the Gym Leaders in the Kalos Region, like Wulfric of Snowbelle City and Olympia of Anistar City.

"So these people must be ones Ash had fought in this region, mustn't they? They seemed to be intimidating, even if I almost garnered a win against the recent Kalos League Conference Winner, Alan."

After a short peek at the magazine, she then looked at the brown-haired woman sleeping soundly at her own bed, as if nothing had happened to the woman two days ago. Doing so, she remembered some of the events that had happened on the past two days, feeling worried.

* * *

Two days ago (May 14, 20XX), in a certain afternoon at the Restaurant Rolling Dreamer, the most expensive restaurant in Lumiose City, and possibly, in the entire Kalos Region, the determined brown-haired woman, who was being aided by the two young ladies - one of which was the orange-haired young lady herself, proceeded to answer back to the raven-haired Aether Foundation member - the person Ash fought in a certain battlefield within the hospital he checked in - who was being accompanied by the long yellow-haired female member on one of the tables of the restaurant.

 _"Are you sure you're going to take care of my son, Sir Adam?"_

 _"Yes, whatever happens, it will be the responsibility of our organization to take care of our guests and clients whenever they're within our establishments. Otherwise, it's up to him to be safe outside of our establishments, Mrs. Delia."_

Feeling angry, the orange-haired young lady stood up and answered them back, much to the surprise of the others within the restaurant:

 _"W, What are you saying?! You're the one who will really be taking care of Ash, right?! Why are you saying those words now?!"_

After she shouted at Adam, silence had dominated within the entire restaurant. She then looked at everyone around her and felt embarrassed at she did just now as she sit back to her chair.

 _"I, I'm sorry... I wasn't able to stop doing this hearing those answers."_

 _"Misty... I know what you mean."_

The brown-haired woman then gently touched the worried Misty's shoulders. She have felt the same as her about this. But she's aware that they were in an expensive restaurant even if she's the mother of Ash.

The honey-haired young lady, on the other hand, only looked down throughout the conversation for some certain reasons. Said lady already decided to follow the advice of a certain producer to go to some of the regions found on the eastern parts of this world - specifically the regions Ash had already travelled previously like the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh - to participate for the Pokemon Contests in order to hone her skills as a Pokemon Performer. She eventually answered to the two:

 _"You should have known already about this city being attacked by the Team Flare, right?"_

 _"Yes, we're aware of that incident,"_ answered the yellow-haired young woman after sipping a certain cup of tea.

 _"Then... is the Alola Region safe from that danger?"_

 _"I cannot say that, young lady. There is a group of ruffians that caused a lot of trouble in our region. They steal other people's Pokemon, messed up some of the important festivals there and delight in all kinds of bad deeds."_

 _"She's right, young lady."_

 _"What group is that?"_

The honey-haired performer felt wondered asking such question. Adam responded quickly:

 _"That group is Team Skull."_

The three girls became cautious upon hearing the name of such villainous group. After all, this seemed to be no different from any other group that had caused harm to the region they based from, such as the Team Flare and their involvement in the recent incident. Feeling curious, Delia immediately asked the person who revealed this information.

 _"Why are they doing such bad deeds to your region?"_

 _"We do not know the reason, Mrs. Delia. Even if we saved the Pokemon they stole from respective trainers, we're still investigating about that without any answer."_

 _"I see..."_

 _"Worry not, Mrs. Delia. As long as your son arrived at the Aether Paradise, he will be guaranteed to be safe there."_

 _"As usual, that should mean he'll be going to travel the entire region again, shouldn't it?"_

Misty said such statement while feeling fearful about Ash's new journey, while not being fully aware of the other two companions' feelings though, especially Delia...

 _"Yes, Misty... I expected that from him, I hope... I hope this will not be the last time I'll see him... just like his father or his grandfather before him..."_

Delia is Ash's mother after all, indeed.

 _"Yes... I understand that, Mrs. Delia,"_ answered Adam while closing his eyes and looking down.

* * *

Misty felt clueless hearing those words from Ash's mother yesterday. She doesn't remember his mother telling her about his father throughout their conversations since she arrived at the Pallet Town a week ago to watch the recent Kalos League Conference. Neither Professor Oak nor his assistants, the newly appointed Viridian City Gym Leader Gary and the Pokemon watcher Tracey, are even talking about Ash's father as well.

She then realized even Ash himself never made conversations with just about everyone about his father, throughout their journey in the regions of Kanto, Orange and Johto. She also remembered that none of the pictures in Ash's home have Ash's father in it. Not that it bothered him at the slightest as Ash is focused too much on his travels and none on his worries about his father's whereabouts. But now, with Ash's mother being concerned too much about it, she can't helped but worried about it as well.

Speaking of Ash, she eventually remembered that she wanted to talk with him about it since that time with Delia and Serena. Yet, most of the tme, he's with the other friends and rivals who are still helping for the recovery of the city from the attack, such as Ash's rivals in the Kalos League, namely Sawyer, the green-haired trainer from Hoenn; Trevor, the orange-haired photographer from Lumiose City; and Tierno, the black-haired trainer from Santalune City; and one of Serena's rivals, Shauna, the brown-haired Pokemon Performer from Vaniville Town, talking about their experiences during the incident involving the Team Flare. Really, she doesn't have any opportunity to talk about it with him alone. [1]

* * *

The date is May 15, 20XX.

It was until several hours ago where she had the actual opportunity to talk about that matter as she entered the room. Unfortunately, on that time, No one stayed in his room. Since he cannot able to get out of the hospital until this morning, she thought he'll be elsewhere within the hospital. Few minutes later, she eventually found him sitting on a certain bench on the quadrangle where she fought and almost won against Alan two days ago - said battle has her only losing due to a grab done by his Charizard to her Golduck which was then followed by striking its lightning fists to the duck's upper body, as far as she can remember - and then hurriedly went to see him. And yet, as she arrived at the corridor near the quadrangle, she then eventually witnessed a battle between him and his Pikachu and the honey-haired female companion named Serena and her Braixen.

For some reason, she observed no one lost in that match as Pikachu and Braixen ended up not being injured that much and then saw the two friends going to each other at the center of the battlefield - as well as Ash eventually putting his right hand on Serena's right hand that was placed on the latter's heart, much to Misty's upset. After all, Misty never saw Ash to do that to anyone - other than Pikachu and his Pokemon, that is - ever since she joined him on his first day of his journey at the forest near his hometown until she parted ways due to unexpected circumstances.

Moreover...

 _"Most importantly, don't reflect too much upon yourself, Ash!"_

 _"H, Huh?!"_

 _"That all I can do for now. You still have a lot of goals to have reach for! If you have time to worry about something so silly, why don't you try as hard as possible to reach all of the goals you're striving for?!"_

 _"B, But you knew what am I saying, Serena-"_

 _"We're just like what we were before in Snowbelle City. Do you remember, Ash?"_ [2]

 _"We're just like... Huh? I, I understand..."_

As soon as Misty heard that conversation between Ash and Serena, she cannot helped herself but run away from it and rolled some tears from her eyes about it for some certain reason.

A hurtful reality for Misty, it seems.

If it wasn't for that unexpected circumstance regarding to his status as the Gym Leader of Cerulean City, she could have traveled with him in Hoenn and possibly, in the following regions she haven't reached. [3]

Also, Misty eventually thought, for a young lady who will eventually part ways with Ash to pursue her goals as a Pokemon Performer, Serena can even manage him better when it comes to his personality, more than she can do when they traveled together in three regions. After all, Serena has been Ash's guardian prior to her and his mother's arrival to the hospital. That's even with the fact that Ash had accepted a proposal for a friendly date with a certain white-haired lady of their age two days ago, much to her shock at that time. During her short time with Ash, Brock, May and Max in two instances after her decision to become a Gym Leader, Misty knew that he served May as his student when it comes to concerns about Pokemon, despite the differences in their careers. [4]

Misty eventually reached the main entrance of the hospital after running that fast, far away from the quadrangle. Exhausted, she then stopped running and put her hand on her heart, feeling gloomy. After all, she's been worried for him just like his mother do as well.

As far as Ash's mother revealed her on that time that girl's in Pallet Town, those two had known each other very well since their youth, it seems.

* * *

And then...

"Gorudaku?"

A certain bipedal duck voluntarily summoned out from its Pokeball from Misty's bed, much to her surprise. It seemed Golduck sensing something to worry about from Misty. After all, it was once her Psyduck way back then since their first meeting.

"Wahh... What are you doing here, Golduck?!"

"Goru...?!"

"G, Get back to your Pokeball, Golduck. Even if you've got changed a lot, and almost win the battle against Alan, you're still the same Psyduck I knew!"

As she looked back at a certain clock in a certain wall of the room she saw its time to be 2:15 AM already, and yet, Misty still cannot sleep on her bed and decided to speak within herself once again.

"They are childhood friends after all, I guess. So it's natural for them to do that. But... Was Serena the reason for his big change? Ash might have changed himself when I met him briefly back in Hoenn, but this change..."

She's about to cry while she thinking about it. After all, her feelings for him left unchanged after all this time - in that Ash is _her burden_ ever since the two of them traveled together, something that she realized while having back-and-forth with a certain someone named Melody in a certain island shrine back in the Orange Archipelago [5]. However, she eventually changed herself to become hopeful for some reason. After all, she also came in with his mother out of her worries.

"Anyway, I can just ask either him or Serena about it. Besides, Ash is quite an oblivious guy when it comes to romantic stuff, isn't he?"

 _Or is he that aware of it from her now?_

"Huh? It can't be helped. I guess I should take a walk around the hotel for now since I can't even sleep with this."

Feeling not sleepy as well as worried about this, Misty then stood up from the bed and decided to go out of her room for a walk.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

As she stepped out of the room, She heard two familiar voices - a male one and a female one.

"So, we're really going to stay in one room, Janine?"

"It can't be helped, Falkner since we decided to do this to make sure our pocket money cannot easily be emptied."

"Just to make sure we could not make arguments about having a better father, huh?"

"I know, I know... Let's go..."

But most importantly, their names, Falkner and Janine, are a familiar thing to her. With that, she eventually ran towards the sources of those voices.

In a corridor near to Misty's room, she eventually met two certain familiar people there as she pointed her hand to them...

"Falkner of Violet City Gym and Janine of Fuschia City Gym! What are you doing here?!"

""Huh?""

As a certain annoyed blue-haired young man named Falkner was about to put a certain card on the sensor of his and an excited certain purple-haired young lady's room, the two of them looked at the source of the voice who called their names. And then, the purple-haired young lady named Janine then pointed to her as well while both of them felt surprised seeing her as Misty came to go to the two people who are about to enter their room

"Ah! Cerulean City Gym's Misty! We are here to visit a certain person to join either one of our group and this young man's group."

"Huh?"

Misty felt clearly confused about their appearances in this region, especially since she felt she knew they do not have any connection to anyone here. Eventually, as she came near to them, Janine answered Misty's doubts.

"You did not know? This is about the upcoming international tournament that will be held in the two regions four months from now, including our own Kanto Region."

"An international tournament that will be held on Kanto Region too? What was that?"

"You have clearly forgotten, Misty," said the purple-haired lady feeling wondered about Misty's behavior, "anyway, why are you here then?"

"Huh? Me? I'm here to visit my friend here, along with his mother, who had been worried for him since the incident in this region," answered the orange-haired young lady while seemingly thinking about something, then smiled.

"A _friend_? Who is he?"

"Well..."

Misty immediately remembered what happened back at the quadrangle of the hospital where her old friend was checked in, making her feeling gloomy once again.

Misty thought, _a friend, huh?_

"Hmhm..."

As Janine eventually felt interested, Falkner immediately stopped her from doing anything else, making Misty to feel relieved. He added while scratching his head:

"Anyway, let's enter to our room. We should talk about it inside..."

The three are about to enter Falkner and Janine's room by its only door as Misty eventually looked elsewhere at a certain corridor near them - where she saw two certain girls that are entering a certain room near theirs as well. One of them, the violet-haired girl, is someone Misty is quite familiar with. After all, said girl Misty knew is a member of the Hoenn/Kanto Battle Frontier, Salon Maiden Anabel.

Misty thought, _What is she doing here? Is she on the same page as Falkner and Janine?_

Janine, who was now entering the room first, noticed her immediately and asked, "what is it, Misty?"

"N, Nothing, Janine. I'm just thinking about some things really," said Misty while giving her a concerned smile.

After that, all of them were now inside the room as Falkner closed the door as well.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

The time on a certain wall clock within Falkner's and Janine's hotel room was shown as 2:25 AM. As soon as the three eventually entered the hotel room, Janine eventually ran inside in pleasure, much to Falkner's worry.

"Wow! So this is a hotel room in the Kalos Region looked like! This feels luxurious!"

"Yes, this region feels a lot different compared to ours, from this region's food to the Pokemon."

"There are really two queen-sized beds here, like that person in the first floor had said. That's some change of pace for me! I'll try this!"

The purple-haired lady excitedly jumped to one of the beds, much to the others' surprise. As she landed to such bed happily:

"Waaa! This is really different from the ones I used to in my home. I might have feel asleep to this too!"

Janine excitedly said such words while lying on that large bed, making Misty feeling impressed for her co-Gym Leader of Kanto, while Falkner was looking at the scenery through the glass doors, feeling interested.

"I'm glad that you like the bed, Janine."

"Yes! Anyway, you cannot sleep too, Misty?"

"Yeah. Well, that's what happened to me when I got here too. Unlike my friend's mother, I haven't adjusted that much since our arrival in this region two days ago."

"Oh... So who's your friend here by the way?"

"My friend's Ash."

Upon hearing the name of Misty's friend, Falkner flinched a bit before proceeding to look and ask the orange-haired young lady about such person.

"Hmm, Ash... Do you mean Ash who joined the Johto League Silver Conference Victory Tournament few years ago?"

"Yes, Falkner. You had fought him once too, I remember."

"Oh, I remember that. I was a jerk to him back then. After all, I always wanted to prove that Flying-type Pokemon will not always lose to Electric-type ones like his Pikachu." [6]

"But you should already know that there are some Flying-type Pokemon that aren't weak to Electric-type ones. Gligar, Gliscor and the legendary Pokemon Landorus, being part Ground-type themselves are immune to it, as well as some others whose typing effectively would remove their weaknesses."

"Yeah... I know about those, Misty. That's what I am in the past anyway. Actually, I'm now here proving that my Flying-type Pokemon can overcome any of their weakness. After all, they're also weak to Ice-types and Rock-types too. Me too can adapt as well."

As the conversation between Misty and Falkner about a certain raven-haired trainer continued, the purple-haired lady, feeling happy while lying down on the bed, then looked at certain magazines that was found on the table near her. Eventually, she entered the conversation as well hearing about that certain raven-haired trainer with interest on her face.

"Haa! So, you really know him too, Falkner."

"Yeah, but I only met him once few years ago. I didn't know much about him. You could probably asked Misty more about him," said Falkner as he thought of something while looking at the reconstructed landmarks outside of the city.

"Hm," thought Janine as she eventually looked at the orange-haired Cerulean City Gym Leader with a concerned smile, "so where do we find him, Misty?"

"Huh? I don't understand, Janine. What do you mean?"

"Do you remember that I told you about an international tournament just now? I hope you didn't forget about it."

"International tournament?"

Because of that, Misty had eventually made thoughts in order to remember something she might have forgotten. After some time:

"Do you mean the Pokemon World Tournament?!"

"Yes. We need him in our team."

"What team? Do you mean our Team Kanto?!"

"Yes. This was an order from the Indigo League of our region after all. Me, you and Ash, along with the others from our homeland, should be right to be part of the Team Kanto."

Upon hearing such words from Janine, Falkner eventually felt unease and answered Janine back in annoyance.

"No way, young girl. He will be better with us, Team Johto! That's an order from the Silver League of the Johto Region!"

"Huh? So what's your claim with that, young man?!"

"We promised to have a Pokemon battle in front of Ash and whoever the winner of that battle will be the one that invite Ash to that team," explained Falkner while crossing his arms.

"Fair enough," said Janine after giving off a sigh, "we concerted for that in the airport anyway."

"A Pokemon battle in front of Ash? Isn't that weird, Janine, Falkner?"

Misty gave off a weakly laugh after she said such words to them, in which Janine actively answered:

"Of course! This is a battle between trainers that wanted to prove that one has a better father than the other!"

"So that's really the point, young girl."

"Isn't that obvious?! We need to settle down with that!"

The purple-haired lady then aimed her attention from the annoyed Falkner to the curious Misty with a sigh and calmly said, much to Falkner's disbelief.

"Anyway, where is that trainer?"

"Hey! What was that, young lady?!"

"Well, he is currently confined in one of the hospitals in this city, because of the incident with Team Flare in this city. But don't worry, he will be guaranteed to be discharged tomorrow, guys."

Perceiving such thoughts from Misty, Falkner felt interested about it.

"Team Flare, huh? So that group must have been the ones that attacked this region, right?"

"Yes, Ash and his friends told me about the events. In fact, they are the ones who opposed them."

"Really? They are truly heroes with their acts," said Falkner feeling impressed to those so-called heroes.

"No, that was really Ash's act of heroism that convinced others to help him against that group. After all, the evil group tried to destroy our world to creating a perfect world for those villains."

Falkner and Janine felt surprised with this fact coming from their acquaintance. Janine immediately responded, in which Falkner eventually followed.

"Perfect world? I believe such world never exist, especially with our ways of living. What do you think, young man?"

"Those people can dream for such world. Yet, such is an ideal that would never reach no matter what. Being a part-time police official, such crimes are beyond normal."

"So, this is the first time you agreed with me, young man, isn't it?"

"It can't be helped that I do really agree with that."

"But because of that, he is truly fitting to join Team Kanto."

"Huh? He actually fit more to our team, Team Johto."

While the purple-haired Fuschia City Gym Leader and the blue-haired Violet City Gym Leader continued their own conversation about their bicker about making that certain raven-haired Pokemon trainer to join either Team Kanto or Team Johto, Misty looked down feeling worried and thought she should really have been followed Ash like Brock until Sinnoh Region instead of going for that decision of leaving him after the Silver Conference. But the decision is especially crucial for the Gym she resided in. However, because of the upcoming Pokemon World Tournament four months from now, she will be able to rejoin him and will probably talking about many things they haven't talked for a long while, especially since there are a lot of things Ash had never told her that some, especially his mother and his friends, might already knew.

Eventually, the Elegant Master of Flying Pokemon and the Poisonous Ninja Mistress noticed the orange-haired Cerulean City Gym Leader feeling down about something. Janine eventually called her out while waving her hand near Misty's face.

"Hi! Tomboyish Mermaid..."

"Huh?"

"Are you worried about something? Is Ash better to be part of our team or of Falkner's team? What do you think?"

Misty felt surprised hearing this, but eventually answered loudly after thinking about the consequences of her decisions, something that made Janine felt excited.

"That's obvious! Ash's better to be part of Team Kanto!"

"Of course, Misty... He would be really better on our team!"

Falkner only sighed from it and then eventually asked the worried Misty once again, "so... where do we see him now tomorrow, Misty?"

"Well... He will be probably go to the house resided by the family of two of his current companions."

"Then we should immediately go there then."

"Yes, I think. Huh?"

""What is it, Misty?""

"N, Nothing, Falkner, Janine. I just remembered something else! That's all!"

Misty eventually realized something while thinking about the opportunities of having some long conversations with Ash, especially there was a certain white-haired young lady named Katherine that eventually invited Ash for a friendly date. She felt some realization...

 _Ash isn't as oblivious as I thought, is he? I hope he is. He only focused on Pokemon battles, after all._

Misty then answered her acquaintances confidently, something that surprised the latter two.

"You two will going to meet him this morning regardless of circumstances! I promise!"

"Sure!"

"But what circumstances, Misty?"

Janine responded with excitement, while Falkner eventually asked about the reason behind her statement, in which Misty immediately answered.

"Well... He might be busy for many things tomorrow, guys. This would be quite a long ride that we need some little sleep, I guess."

The time on a certain wall clock of the room is now 2:50 AM.

Several hours later, things might be changed for Ash, for better or worse.

* * *

 _ **Continue on:**_ ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _ **Part III**_

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

 _In case you were wondering about why Misty and the others are still awake even if it is somewhere between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM, while feeling sleepy in the afternoon in one of the previous chapters, this is because I'm assuming that my own version of the Pokemon world will be loosely based on the real world. That means anyone who came from the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh (whose maps are based from real-life Japan) might get trouble from the changes in time zones once he/she got to either Unova (based from New York in United States) or Kalos (based from France), causing jet lag to him/her. This will be quite an important thing to note once a certain group who will be returning to Kanto Region might get this case again._

* * *

REFERENCES:

 **[1]** Shauna, Tierno, Trevor and Sawyer will be appearing in future chapters, unlike in the anime where their last appearances for XY series are in Pokemon XYZ Episode 45.  
 **[2]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 28:The Winding Woods... The Dawn of Evolution!  
 **[3]** Pokemon OS Episode 273: Goodbye... And Then, Setting Off!  
 **[4]** Pokemon AG Episode 44 - Pokemon AG Episode 45 and Pokemon AG Episode 132 - Pokemon AG Episode 134  
 **[5]** Pokemon Movie 2: Revelation Lugia  
 **[6]** Pokemon OS Episode 131: Violet Gym! Sky Battle!


	10. Small Link To The Past II

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 02: A Small Link To The Past _**_**Part II**_

* * *

It was already evening when a certain program of the Pokemon Performer, the Kalos Queen Elle, along with the Fox Pokemon Delphox, the Fragrance Pokemon Aromatisse, and the Scale Pokemon Vivillon in Meadow Pattern Forme, is elegantly commenced at the North Boulevard of the Lumiose City for its citizens. After all, with most of the buildings being damaged by the massive roots that were once covered the entire city done by a certain brainwashed Zygarde Core. Elle's performance brought everyone around her to smile, feeling satisfied with it - a true purpose of being a pure-hearted Pokemon Performer. The audience watching include some of the Kalos Gym Leaders like Grant, Viola and Valerie, with the Bug-type Gym Leader being accompanied by her older sister, Alexa; and some of the Kalos Elite Four like Siebold, Wikstrom and Drasna, with the latter two just came to the city after the incident had happened. Most of them are accompanying some of the city's street children to give them smiles - and hope in finding their parents apparently around the city.

More importantly, among the large crowd was a certain male adult in white formal outfit and sunglasses calling on his cellular phone, seemingly worried about something.

"I'm sorry if I give you such an important task but I already decided to personally go here anyway."

 _"I understand but you should have think that first while we were in our region, sir."_

The caller happened to be someone having female-like voice. The man then looked at his surroundings, making sure that everyone's attention was on the Kalos Queen's beautiful performance. As everyone around did so, he continued his conversation with a certain someone.

"No, I originally thought I should have been the one who will be doing that. It was just..."

 _"It was just...? Was that related to your own reason, sir."_

"That's nothing important. Anyway, do you already know his location?"

 _"Yes, sir. I am already here in the hospital where the person was staying for his recovery."_

"Recovery? I see. How did you know?"

 _"I only asked the ones who might have known the person, sir."_

"I know. That's what the orders I gave to you back in our place."

 _"Who's that, Miss Lusamine?"_

 _"It was my boss in my company asking about a certain important matter for our business. It has nothing to do with my personal visit here."_

 _"Oh… I understand."_

Eventually, from the man's perspective, a voice of another girl was heard from the receiver's side, which made the man asked her.

"Who's that?"

 _"I happened to have accompanying four women to this hospital, They happened to have an important business with the same person too."_

"I see. I can't ask anything else about that."

 _"..."_

"Anyway, you already know what to do, Miss President."

 _"Yes."_

"See you later then."

 _"I will be saying the same to you."_

As the performance from Elle, now flying above everyone with her Vivillon, was about to end, the man immediately holds down his phone to the pocket of his polo after the beeping sound was heard from it. He then decided to leave the crowd afterwards. However, as he is about to cross to a certain pedestrian in the North Boulevard, he then saw a certain Ice-type Gym Leader, Wulfric, coming through his side, which made him stopped for a while.

As they crossed paths with one another, the Gym Leader then spoke to him in a weak voice:

"It has been almost a decade, young man…"

The man did not reply to the middle-aged man's statement as he only continued to walk to the other side of the pedestrian lane to go to his destination.

* * *

Some time after such call happened, as Katherine's proposal to Ash was announced around the room, Ash's Pikachu entered to the room and immediately rushed to Ash's bed, to its trainer's lap.

"Pikapi!"

"""Pikachu?"""

Ash, Serena and Korrina felt surprised to see the Pikachu running to him.

"What is it, Pikachu? Why are such in a hurry, buddy?"

"Pikapika Pikapi!"

After Ash asked such question to the exhausted Mouse Pokemon, a certain orange-haired young lady immediately rushed into the room out of anger and said:

"What date is it, Ash?!"

Everyone immediately felt surprised upon seeing the angry young lady rushing through the door to the room, even the stoic lemon-haired lady felt a slight chill from her spine feeling the young lady's rage. She then pointed to the white-haired fashion designer, Katherine.

"What date do you want with Ash?!"

"Huh? I, I only wanted a f, friendly date with Ash. T, that's all," said Katherine who only felt embarrassed after revealing her proposal. After all, it was her co-workers' plan to do so.

"Who are you, young lady," interrogated the honey-haired fashion designer, Linnea, towards the angry newcomer, shrugging her shoulders about the action of that lady who seemingly has the same age as the youngest of the four.

"Linnea's right! Why are you questioning our friend's proposal," said the fair-skinned fashion designer, Blossom, following the oldest friend's questioning out of surprise.

"Wait... Do you know Ash, young lady?" said the black-haired designer, Kali, while feeling disappointed. With that, the yellow-haired young woman, Lusamine, only sighed about it.

"Of course, I am!" The orange-haired lady proudly answered such question. She added as she proudly put her right hand on her chest: "I am one of Ash's best friends. I am-"

"D, Do I know you?" The raven-haired patient interrupted the proud lady as he asked something, feeling confused. Serena and Korrina agreed to him, wondering about the newcomer's appearance. This made the orange-haired lady feeling upset to Ash's answer and she angrily went near his bed.

"What are you saying, you fool?! You forget about me, don't you?!" The orange-haired lady forcefully pinched his cheeks to release her feelings of upset, hurting him in the process, much to everyone else's surprise once again. Serena's heart throbbed even harder seeing the lady's actions.

"H, H, Hey! Y, You are hurting me too much!"

"Pikapika," sweatdropped Pikachu observing at the things around it. After all, despite the new appearance of the newcomer, the Electric-type mouse knew her very well as she made a leap to Serena's lap. Serena asked, "do you know her, Pikachu?"

"Pikapika," agreed Pikachu on her question. Eventually, Serena carefully observed the three of the fashion designer quartet who seemed to have a conversation about something as they looked her, which led to her eagerness towards them. The newcomer, on the other hand:

"You have really forgotten the world's greatest Water-type trainer, Ash?!"

Upon hearing such statement, A sudden chill was felt on his body, making him to remember anything in the past and replying to her:

"M, Marlon?! C, Crasher Wake?! J, Juan?! H, Hey, that's hurting me more!"

"You say anyone else other than me and I will be giving you some more punishment to you, Mr. Runner-Up!"

Ash laughed weakly and eventually said, "o, okay, that's a joke! I really remember you, Misty!"

Hearing such reply from the raven-haired trainer, Misty quickly released Ash from her wrath and took a deep breath afterwards, making everyone else around her feeling relieved, even Ash whose cheeks felt painful for him and Lusamine who was more disappointed than relieved, worrying about something else.

"It's really been a while, Ash," said Misty giving him a wink, "So you don't quite remember me at all, being one of your first companions on the start of your journey to be a Pokemon Master."

"Is that true," wondered the still-embarrassed Katherine about Misty's words, "then you really knew him more than I do, Miss Misty."

"Maybe," the smiling Misty answered back and then continued, "but it had been many years since our paths needed to separate due to unexpected circumstances. So I might have no idea on anything about him now. Maybe there's someone else here in this room other than his Pokemon who knew him very well."

"I'm sorry about that, Misty," replied Ash scratching his head and giving her a weak smile back, "maybe it has something to do with your hairstyle change. It's definitely different from the pony-tailed one I used to."

"Hmm... Now that you mentioned that, maybe you're right," answered Misty, realizing what he meant. After all, she now sported a new hairstyle that is still fitting for The Tomboyish Mermaid. However, she then felt disappointment as she continued tightly squeezing the raven-haired trainer's cheeks, "but mentioning such names other than mine is unforgivable to me!"

"O, Ouch! That really hurt! I, I'm really sorry!"

"So you were really the one of his first companions that Ash mentioned in the stories of his previous adventures, Misty?"

"Huh? Of course, I am," said the Cerulean City Gym Leader as she looked at the owner of such kind voice and realized something upon seeing her that made her to stop pinching Ash's cheeks. With that, Ash felt relieved after Misty had done so.

"Nice to meet you, Misty," said Serena as she gave Misty a polite smile and reached her hand near her afterwards.

"Nice to meet you too...?"

"Serena."

"Pika, Pikachupi!"

The honey-haired performer answered the confusion of the confused orange-haired Gym Leader as she still gave her such a genuine smile, followed by Pikachu happily agreeing with her. Hearing such name from the performer made Misty's heart throbbing. Through Ash's mother, not only she knew such person of that name is one of his childhood friends, but also she is aware of her and Ash's travels together in this region to continue his journey to become a Pokemon Master.

"Serena?" asked Katherine upon noticing her with slight excitement, even if her shyness was still apparent on her voice, "a, aren't you the Pokemon Performer who competed with Elle for the title of the Kalos Queen in the Master Class Tournament?" [1]

"Yes, I am," said the Pokemon Performer who feels slightly proud about such achievement and with that, she looked at the three other designers who felt assured about what they had talked about before even if she still felt nervous since she talked to the same person who proposed a date with Ash, something she have not able to do until now, but she continued speaking with notably humble expression, "however, watching Elle's performance last time made me realized I have a lot to learn as a Pokemon Performer."

"I see. Continue with that, Serena!"

"Y, You're right. T, Thank you, Katherine."

"The mood's different now than it was before, Ash. It's a good timing that Misty came in before anything else happened," commented the Fighting-type Gym Leader while giving off a concerned smile to the receiver, who was feeling hurt due to Misty's recent act.

"What do you mean, Korrina?"

"It doesn't matter, Ash. It could have been better if you should be aware of everything here," said Korrina giving him a wink afterwards, which made Ash felt even more clueless.

"D, Do you mean the date?"

"Maybe. You're still surprising me, Ash."

"Um... Maybe, you're right," said Misty while feeling wondered about the recent proposal to Ash, which made her question the white-haired lady, "Ash's main priorities to become a Pokemon Master are Pokemon battles and food, and he isn't used to dates like what are trying to work here, Katherine."

"R, Really, Miss Misty?"

"Wait a second, Misty. What are you saying I am just about Pokemon battles and food?!"

"That's what you are, Ash."

On that time, while most of everyone in the room are talking about Ash's personality, much to Ash's and Lusamine's dismay (both for different reasons), Serena remembered her time with Ash in their journey in the Kalos Region. After all, when she heard from Misty that Ash's journey in the Kanto Region has been mostly about luck due to the unexpected circumstances especially in most of his Gym battles in that region, Serena remembered that Ash's journey in this region has been mostly about strategies and tactics against opposing Pokemon trainers - a trait that Ash developed very well due to his experiences in the other regions he traveled before, something that Ash told her, Clemont and Bonnie during their travels. However, at some point, Misty had her voice mellowed down as she briefly revealed more of the things she, Ash and a certain companion experienced in the Orange Region for some reason, which made Serena started to wonder for a bit. After all, the latter realized everything Ash said to her and the lemon-haired siblings on their travels was coming from Ash's perspective and experiences, but not from anyone else's.

"There was that one time during our travels to the Trovita Island, its Gym Leader, Rudy, had once offered me to stay on his Gym to help him as well as to marry him-" [2]

"M, Marry? Do you really mean that, Misty," wondered Ash about the orange-haired lady's words. However, clearly Ash isn't the only one that felt surprised with those words from Misty, but mostly everyone else as well. Ash added, "you know, I don't remember that happened during my Gym battle against Rudy."

"That's because he offered such proposal during my stay to his Gym on the night before the Gym battle while you and Tracey were left behind elsewhere," said Misty as she immediately put her right hand to her heart when she continued while giving Ash a smile, "of course, I declined his offer in the end since I had decided to stay with you afterwards."

As the short conversation about some of the significant parts of Ash's travels continued, Serena realized one thing from Misty's short story on her perspective from Ash's travels. But...

"So, do you like him too, Miss Misty?"

Serena felt surprised about this statement. This is not because Serena is the one who said this, but rather this comes from someone else - Katherine. With that, the orange-haired lady briefly flinched upon hearing that, but she immediately fixed her composure while retaining her mellowed voice and answered:

"W, What are you thinking? I decided to stay with him since he broke my bike on that time." [3]

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"FINALLY!"

Before anything else happened, everyone's attention apparently turned to the ones at the front of the door upon. Here come the other companions of Misty who, for some reason, just came in quite some time after Misty. A certain lemon-haired aspiring young scientist felt joy and exhausted at the same time, so did the other companions. The young scientist added:

"After many trials and errors, we finally found our destination, guys!"

"For a scientist like you, you actually forgot our friend's room number in this place," complimented the raven-haired professor, wondering about the young scientist's knowledge and awareness.

"It can't be helped, professor. There are a lot of things to work on my Gym like fixing the machine damaged by Team Flare's works."

"Next time, I will be the one who will remember the room number so I can be of help, big brother," said Bonnie while resting her hands on her waist, feeling annoyed.

"B, Bonnie... Yeah, I'll remember that. I should have relied on you for that," answered Clemont carrying out a weak smile to his younger sister, much to the latter's astonishment and a certain brown-haired lady in glasses' relief.

"Anyway, this is surprising. Ash has a lot of visitors right now. Including us, that is," said another raven-haired trainer, surprised seeing many people inside the room. Those people are also looking at them too, murmuring on some of the familiar faces among the newcomers such as the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos Region and the winner of the recent Kalos League Conference

As everyone meets and greets one another inside the room, leaving anything related to the harboring feelings of certain people towards Ash behind for now, Serena then looked down and spoke on a voice only she and Pikachu could hear:

"So Ash's really that dense, after all, right, Pikachu?"

"Pika?"

"I know. You really just like Ash, Pikachu."

"Pi?"

Pikachu clearly cannot helped but only wondered about Serena's words. The Electric-type mouse's just as same as its trainer when it comes to things like these. However...

"Serena?"

Hearing her name, Serena immediately at the person calling her. It was the raven-haired trainer who did so and then gave her an assured smile, even if he was still in conversation with Alain and Mairin, seemingly talking about their promise to have a match between his Greninja and Alain's Charizard, and then Lusamine entered the conversation and directly talked to Ash. On her thoughts, Ash seemed to be more interested in fighting worthy rivals, so she knew it is natural for him to react like that. After all, Ash mentioned in his stories on his encounters about his rivals in his journey along with his three companions in this region, like Paul in the Sinnoh Region and Gary in the regions of Kanto and Johto.

However, seeing Ash's smile like that one before Korrina came in to them, she eventually felt something was different with Ash, creating many thoughts and possibilities on her mind. She even have a thought of two of them as a couple, making her blush a bit... but considering Ash's personality, she knew it might not be possible, and thus, her composure returned to normal, yet...

 _What's on your mind, Ash?_

"ASH!"

A certain brown-haired female adult was shouting through the door, calling the raven-haired patient loud enough for the others to pay their attention to the woman.

"M, mom?!"

With that, the woman immediately rushed to the patient and embraced him very tightly with tears flowing over her face, which made Ash himself speechless for a bit.

"I'm glad... Really, really glad."

Hearing such words from the woman, Ash immediately answered her thoughts while scratching his head and eventually embraced his mother tightly in return:

"Your embrace might hurt my back, mom. Besides... Even though this is really surprising, I'm also glad you came too, mom."

While the others fell Ash's mother stayed speechless for a very little while, and...

"I know, my beloved son. Since three days ago, I had been wondering what had happened to this region and to you as well. But most importantly..."

" _You don't want to see your son failing to fulfill his dream to become the world's greatest Pokemon Master..._ Am I right, mom? I'm sorry if I let my life to be on a risk, saving the people I protected from danger, just like my father and my grandfather did in his journey long time ago, no matter where they are now."

While most others, both humans and Pokemon, felt shocked hearing the conversation, Serena and Mairin only felt guilt hearing such words from Ash. After all, they are the ones whom he saved from a certain fall at one point during the final battle against Lysandre and the giant sentient Zygarde megalith. Seeing the honey-haired performer and the rookie trainer feeling down, Pikachu and Alain immediately patted their shoulders respectively.

 _"I will be following the footsteps of my father, my grandfather and Pallet Oak_ [4] _as Pokemon trainers... No, I will be going to better than my father or my grandfather for my dream to become the world's greatest Pokemon Master for the sake of my mother, who had been working hard managing the Pallet House alone while sacrificing her dream to become one for my sake, straw-hat girl!"_

Also, with that, Serena suddenly flashed into her mind a certain conversation that happened years ago that she had never heard from him saying during their journey in this region. After all, such conversation happened at the Pallet Town's Pokemon Summer Camp, where the two of them first met.

* * *

 _ **Continue on:**_ ** _Chapter 02: A Small Link To The Past_** _ **Part III**_

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 20: Elle VS Serena! Open the Door to the Future!  
 **[2]** Pokemon OS Episode 103: Trovita Gym! Type Battle - 3 VS 3!  
 **[3]** Pokemon OS Episode 01: Pokémon! I Choose You!  
 **[4]** According to the Pocket Monsters: The Animation novels, Pallet Oak (Masara Orchid) is known as the highest-ranked Pokemon trainer among the residents of the Pallet Town. In fact, the town itself was named after him as the town wasn't even called as one prior to his achievements.


	11. Small Link To The Past III

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 02: A Small Link To The Past_** _**Part III**_

* * *

Several years ago at the back of a certain home in the Pallet Town, which served as the location of the town's only certain restaurant are two young children - a boy and a girl whose ages seemingly ranged between seven and eight years old - happily eating certain dishes on one of the serving tables during the nighttime. It was the first day of the Pallet Town's Professor Oak's Pokemon Summer Camp.

 _"Mmm... So the article_ _here in the magazine_ _we brought here tells the truth about your restaurant... The food here is the best!"_

 _"Really? Thank you! But what magazine was that?"_

 _"Wait a second..."_ said the little girl as she looked for something to her and her mother's backpack for a little while. Feeling relieved as she found something:

 _"Here!"_

The little girl showed a certain article of a certain magazine to the little boy. Such article is entitled _Unexplored Regions: The Best Food In The Little Villages._ [1]She then pointed out a certain page about a certain restaurant, the Pallet House [1], to the little boy. She added:

 _"These are the pages focusing on this little restaurant. It seemed this was one of the reasons my mom's interested to go here too."_

 _"Oh, I didn't realized that. Somehow, I felt happy seeing this,"_ said the little boy to the curious little girl, _"that's really impressive for my mom. She's really the best cook in the world!"_

 _"No, you're wrong. N_ _o matter how good your mother at cooking these dishes, my mother does the work the best."_

 _"So you're at that again, straw-hat girl!"_

 _"My name's Serena, not the straw-hat girl, Ash!"_

 _"I know, I know... I would not forget such name... Serena..."_ said the little boy smiling while looking at the very happy little girl. He continued while scratching his head for some reason, _"... probably."_

 _"W, What are you saying, Ash?!"_

The little girl felt annoyed at the boy's words, making her shout at him like that. The boy, eventually feeling unhappy for a bit, told her:

 _"I'm sorry, Serena. I just want to have fun, but it turned out not that well for you. You know, this is my first time talking to someone of my age that lasts longer than I thought. So, I'm really sorry."_

 _"Huh?"_ The little girl somehow showed certain shades of pink on her cheeks to the little boy who said such compliment, turning her annoyance to a genuine smile, and answered while looking at her iced tea: _"You know, this was also my first time to do the same thing."_

 _"Ah... That's good to hear, Serena."_

 _"Thank you."_

The two of them smiled at one another for their compliments. Some time after they eat the main dishes, upon hearing the happy conversation between their mothers inside the first floor of the two-storey home, they continued their little conversation:

 _"Ah... Thanks for the food, Ash! I'm really satisfied!"_

 _"So, which one of our mothers is a better cook, Serena?"_

 _"I am still preferring my mother's cooking skills, of course."_

 _"Huh? So, you're really preferring your mother, anyway."_

 _"By the way, your mother is really great. She can manage to work on this restaurant alone!"_

 _"Ah... Yeah, my mom really is. She told me when I was younger that since my grandmother's death, she is the only one who takes care of this place. But most importantly, she's the only one who took care of me as well since my birth. Because of that, I helped my mom doing some chores too in return."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"What do you mean by your mother working alone for you?"_

 _"I see... Well, my father had left to a journey to become one of the greatest Pokemon Trainers in this world after I was born, still seeking to surpass the greatest trainer of this town, Pallet Oak,"_ said little Ash who was rather smiling as he revealed something to the little Serena, _"I... No, I and my mother still don't know where my father was. But I knew he's somewhere out there, still working to achieve his goal. That's for sure."_

 _"..."_

 _"That's why... That's why_ _I will be following the footsteps of my father, my grandfather and Pallet Oak as Pokemon trainers... No, I will be going to better than my father or my grandfather for my dream to become the world's greatest Pokemon Master for the sake of my mother, who had been working hard managing the Pallet House alone while sacrificing her dream to become one for my sake, straw-hat girl!"_

The little girl felt surprised hearing those words from the little boy, regardless of the little boy calling her the straw-hat girl. After all, this is such a great dream to achieve by some people in this world... and yet it is mysterious and vague.

That is, to become the greatest Pokemon Master.

The little girl then commented:

 _"You have such a great goal, Ash. I envy you about that. You really decided to do that for your mother."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"I had been trained by my mother to become a Rhyhorn racer, but I don't have a feeling to be one."_

 _"Is there anything else you can do other than becoming a Rhyhorn racer?"_

As little Serena heard such question from the little raven-haired kid, she paused a bit, thinking of something that comes to her mind. She then answered:

 _"I... I don't know. Other than being a Rhyhorn racer, I cannot really think of anything else right now, not even something you dreamed of might interest me."_

 _"I see."_ Ash then looked at the confused little honey-haired kid with a confident smile as he said:

 _"Don't worry, we are still young, Serena. In fact, we are still studying about what we needed in our lives from our primary education... like Mathematics, even if that would not be as useful as I thought when it comes to becoming a Pokemon Master... Wait, Mathematics might be useful to your experience as a Rhyhorn racer, you know."_

 _"I know about that. It might be compulsory to every one of us to study for the primary school until we graduated at 10, but it was really that useful after all... Ash?"_

After Serena talked a bit about the primary education, she observed Ash thinking about something. The little boy happily answered:

 _"Don't tell me... You want to get married at the age of 10, don't you?"_

 _"M, M, Marry?! W, W, What are you saying?!"_

Annoyed, Serena shouted at Ash's words, now with notable shades of red on her cheeks while she lightly shaked Ash's head through holding his neck, making the little boy felt dizzy.

 _"Haha... I, I'm sorry. I, I didn't really mean to answer with that. A, After all, you didn't really have a choice that interested you a bit, you know."_

 _"I, I see! Even if I knew that was also a choice after graduating for the primary education that we needed, along with pursuing secondary education and finding a certain career choice, I don't expect to do that as early as 10, Ash!"_ Serena still felt annoyed about Ash's answer even if she stopped doing shaking his head after he answered but upon realizing the reason behind Ash's answer, she became thoughtful and replied:

 _"Besides, are you really trying to help me about my choice?"_

More importantly though, in this world, like what the little girl had said, once a certain child finished his/her primary education, at least by the age of 10, he/she will decide whether whatever path he/she choose, including marriage. After all, such 10-year-old child is now considered an adult already in this world. [2]

 _"Y, Yeah. Is there anything wrong with that? It was your own future that you needed to seek after all, Serena. We are here with a purpose, you know. There is no reason you should give up finding for that goal,"_ said Ash as he then looked at the star-filled dark skies above them with a smile. He then looked at the brightest star and he seemingly grabbed it with his right hand. Ash's answer made Serena giving off an innocent yet thoughtful smile to him, still having shades of pink on her cheeks for some reason. She muttered:

 _"Now that you said something about marriagge, I think it's not bad when I choose to marry you in the future, Ash..."_

 _"Serena?"_

 _"Huh?!"_

Once he put down his hand, he immediately looked at the little girl calling his name. By that time, little Ash clearly saw little Serena saying something...

 _"What are you saying?"_

... but never heard what she said after calling his name. She instead said:

 _"Ash, since we will be staying here for one week, can you then make a tour around your house-"_

 _"Hmm... This is not our house... This is our home..."_

 _"Huh? I see... You're right... This is your family's home..."_

Little Ash immediately corrected the little girl about the choice of terms while giving her a thoughtful smile. After all, both of them eventually understands the big differences of the definition of _house_ and _home_. She continued:

 _"Can you?"_

The little boy nodded and said:

 _"Yeah, but first, let's wash the plates and utensils that we used for eating our food, Serena. This is still my mom's restaurant, after all."_

Both of them agreed and immediately did the chores in cleaning the restaurant. However, they never realized that they were being watched by two certain women in their mid-20s, who eventually smiled at them working together.

After some time of cleaning the tables, as they cleaned the plates in a certain washing area of his and his mother's home, Serena said something:

 _"Then, I will try to learn more about Rhyhorn racing from my mom. Maybe, I might enjoyed it more if I learn more."_

 _"Hmm... Then do it... Do it what you really like, Serena..._ _"_

 _"Yeah, I will..."_

Both of them smiled afterwards as they continued working in finishing the chores together. And those days continued...

* * *

In a certain hospital room...

"So, she really slept soundly this time, Mama, Mrs. Grace... Just like this morning..."

"Pikapika..."

"Tiyana..."

The raven-haired patient said such words with a smile as he looked at the honey-haired Pokemon Performer sleeping on her seat near his bed. Ash's Pikachu and Serena's Braixen agreed to him as well, even if they don't know what Ash had said to her during that morning. Notably, the room's now occupied by only four people - Ash, Serena and their mothers, Delia and Grace, respectively - as well as some Pokemon. Delia and Grace, sitting one another at a certain fluffy sofa, are happily eating some of the food on a certain table near the bed. Delia then pleasantly proceeded to say something:

"Then, my son..."

"Mama?"

"Can you carry her to this sofa here?"

Ash paused for a bit as he then looked back at the sleeping honey-haired young beauty. He sadly answered:

"I cannot... I'm sorry, Mama..."

"Pika?"

"Tiyana?"

Both mothers, as well as Pikachu and Braixen, felt shocked a bit hearing his answer for some reason. Yet, he continued with an assured smile while still looking at the girl.

"After all, Serena told me that I should not do any strenuous work that might affect my back until I am fully recovered. She will be angry if I would not follow that."

"I see it, my son," said Delia as she understand his reasoning, eventually giving him a genuine smile.

"Besides, you mentioned my daughter instead of your doctor, Ash," commented Grace as she observed Ash getting mild astonishment about what she said, "it was the doctor who gives such advice to their patients. You should already know that."

"Ah... I didn't know about it, Mrs. Grace. I mean, Serena might forgot to tell me about that, anyway... Besides, I was only awake this morning," replied Ash which made the two mothers feeling worried with his words. He continued while he has been thinking of everyone who joined the cause against Lysandre three days ago, "because of that, Serena... no, everyone around me were feeling worried that I would never be awake since that day. So, I will not be adding such burden to them after I finally awake."

Ash then proceeded to stand up on the floor from his bed and went to the sleeping beauty and continued while he finally decided to know what to do.

"Besides, even if either mom or Mrs. Grace doesn't ask me about it," said the raven-haired patient as he slowly proceeded to carry Serena in his arms from her seat — one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back - smiling, "I will be doing this anyway, considering her duties to take care of me these previous three days here in this room."

With that, Delia and Grace truly understood what he had tried to say while doing so, making them feeling worth to give him a thoughtful smile for some reason, and then proceeded to stand aside in order for Ash to put Serena on it. Eventually, as he and the sleeping girl he carried is about to reach the fluffy sofa:

"Mmm..."

"Huh?"

"Pikapika?"

"Tiyana?"

"Mmmm..."

The young lady slowly opened her eyes, making the boy looking down for a certain reason. It might possibly be bothering Pikachu and Braixen as well.

"W, Why are you stopping, my son?"

"It's... a... trouble... mom..." said the nervous raven-haired trainer while looking at the two mothers this time with a weak laugh.

The girl finally widened her eyes, only to see the nervous raven-haired trainer's face and spoke weakly:

"A, Ash...?"

 _This is dangerous,_ he thought as he then looked at the finally-awaken Serena, making his throat cleared up, and then he answered with a weak smile: "Good... evening... Serena..."

The room's filled with silence for a while after Ash did that. Serena weakly asked, not realizing anything that had happened: "What are you doing?"

"What? Well..." Ash then looked away from the girl as well from their mothers, still with that smile that he used.

Serena, realizing what Ash was doing, only looked down, putting her hands to her heart and answered in a mellowed tone, "You didn't follow me then, huh?"

"Well, you didn't tell me it was the doctor who told me about it, Serena. It doesn't matter though, since you really need some sleep after what you did these three days."

"T, Thank you, Ash. I didn't notice I got slept like this."

"Yeah, sure it seems. You were seemingly worried about something. Besides..."

The raven-haired trainer eventually changed his joyful expression to something serious for some reason, which made Serena to feel nervous about it. Considering his personality, Ash then looked back at the nervous Serena, and eventually answered her back:

"T, That's nothing important, Serena. You don't need to feel nervous. Anyway... Here it goes."

Ash had finally reached the sofa, still carrying the honey-haired lady. From there, Ash properly put her there in her sleeping position.

 _If only I could tell Serena... Not just Serena, but also Mama or even anyone about it,_ he thought as he then seriously looked at the same brightest star in a certain star-filled night skies and clenched his right fist... _about my goal to become the Pokemon Master._

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"W, Where's everybody?"

Everyone at the room looked at the honey-haired performer, who upon putting her in the bed by the Pokemon Master aspirant, realized that only the four of them are here inside the room along with some of their Pokemon. She added as she looked at her mother:

"More importantly... Mama..."

"Hi, my dearest daughter..." said Grace as she waved her right hand to her daughter, "Long time no see..."

Some time had passed, Serena had understood what the others had tried to tell her.

The four fashion designers working under the Lavarre City Gym Leader Valerie, namely Kali, Katherine, Linnea and Blossom, decided to leave the place after many others came in. Much to the surprise of everyone around them except Pikachu, and to the shock of Serena, Ash revealed to them that the white-haired designer had almost declined her proposal for their date for some reason, if he didn't told the girl that she might regret it. Not that, the others can't helped, it happened that Ash is really too oblivious at something like this, after all.

Ash also revealed to Serena that the yellow-haired lady in white dress named Lusamine who had come along with the fashion designers offered him to help her and a certain organization - the Aether Foundation - in a certain region he only have known through the world map - the Alola Region - for the research the organization take in response to their interest on him and his Greninja, specifically on the process of improving Greninja's power, through the so-called Bond Phenomenon.

Serena's mother, Grace, just came in to the room after the five came out in order to see her daughter, who was sleeping for some reason.

Finally, The remaining others who had come as well - Professor Sycamore, the Kalos League Conference winner Alain, the rookie trainer Mairin, the Shalour City Gym Leader Korrina, the Lumiose City Gym Leader Clemont and his younger sister Bonnie, the daughter of the President of the Orange Logo Inc. Lillie, and the Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty are currently on a certain battlefield that was built within the hospital itself. Ash continued:

"After I told Alain about Greninja's condition, he decided to wait for its return so we can have a fair match between his Charizard and my Greninja some day."

"I see." Serena understood the situation but she eventually followed that with something else. She proceeded:

"Then, why are they on that battlefield now?"

"Misty had promised Alain to have a match between his Charizard and her Gyarados. That's what I heard before we finally reach the hospital."

"Charizard and Gyarados...?"

"Pika...?"

Upon hearing the name of Gyarados, a certain scene in the past struck to his mind, something that Pikachu is aware of that. Such scene was the battle between him and his Pokemon, Alain and his Charizard, and Malva and her Houndoom, and Lysandre and his Pyroar and the Red Gyarados. Said Gyarados can also perform Mega-evolution with its trainer, similar to Alain and his Charizard, Malva and her Houndoom, Steven and his Metagross, Diantha and her Gardevoir, Korrina and her Lucario, and Wulfric and his Abomasnow. [3] He said:

"So, it was a Mega-Evolution battle, huh?"

"Mega-Evolution...? What is it?" Grace wondered about the term itself. Her daughter explained:

"According to Professor Sycamore, Mega Evolution can only be achieved if there is a strong bond between the trainer and a specific Pokemon, Mama. There are many things to learn about it, such as the Key Stone and the Mega Stone used for the Mega Evolution."

Feeling relieved on Ash's condition, Delia proceeded to ask Ash about something:

"Anyway, don't you want to watch the battle, Ash?"

"Huh? Hmmm... Of course, I wanted to, Mama. But Serena..."

Ash then looked at Serena. Upon hearing Ash's words, Serena, who was already sitting up on the sofa, looked away from him and said:

"Since you can able to carry me like that, maybe you can watch it. Don't blame me if you got hurt."

"Then, I'll be careful then, Serena. Let's go, Mama. Let's watch the battle from the corridor."

"You're right, my son."

Ash and his mother Delia then proceeded to go to the corridor to watch a certain battle between Misty and Alain. Delia then asked:

"Grace, Serena, aren't you joining us to watch it?"

"Don't worry. We could come along later so we can still have some bonding time between me and my daughter here."

"Mama?!"

Grace answered with such words, which made her daughter felt dismayed with it. Then, Delia and Ash are about to leave the room as they talked to each other:

"Anyway, let's watch it, my dear son."

"Yeah. I can't wait to see such battle again after three days, Mama! Let's go, Pikachu!"

"Pikapika!

As Ash, his mother and his Electric-type mouse who then excitedly take a leap to its trainer's shoulder, had left to the other side of the door to watch the battle, Grace eventually changed her tone to a soft one as she proceeded to have a conversation with her daughter.

"There is something we needed to talk briefly, my dearest daughter."

"Huh?"

"Try to tell me about it, I'll help. After all, I watch that yesterday."

"Mama..."

Serena eventually realized what her mother was trying to talk about. After all, she had made performances within the city yesterday, along with Shauna and their Pokemon. Serena then proceeded as she felt worried:

"Listen... I... I realized that I definitely like doing such performances. I feel I could able to do thing that many others can't able to do. While I thought of something while performing yesterday, I saw the smiles of the people in the city... And I still have a lot but... I want to really make more people smile like Ms. Elle. But I felt she would lose everything so far."

"I do not believe that it is happening. Your journey was all for that? You definitely have changed. The things that had happened have not been so easy for you, do you think so? Then, you should have more confidence," said Grace while giving her daughter a confident smile.

"Mama."

"After all, you are my daughter!"

"Mama! Thank you."

Grace is really proud seeing her daughter changed for the better, it seems, as she gave a more proudly smile. This made her daughter smiled back as well. [4]

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"Then who do you think who will be going to win, my son?"

"Of course, with that special ability Alain and his Charizard obtained, they will definitely win the battle. But it was going to be a hard battle if Misty's Gyarados can also do the same thing though, Mama."

"You're right... What?!"

Once the mother and son duo reached the windowpanes that can make anyone see the entire quadrangle - which served as the battlefield for many interested Pokemon trainers - they only felt surprised on what they had witnessed.

The match isn't between Alain's Charizard and Misty's Gyarados... but it was between Alain's Charizard and Misty's Golduck.

What's more surprising, it was Misty's Golduck that gained the upper hand over Alain's Charizard, despite the fact that Charizard already underwent the Mega-Evolution process with Alain. Charizard might have yet to be defeated, but it already felt exhausted in comparison to the unscathed Golduck.

 _So Misty was this stronger already?_ Ash thought as he witnessed such one-sided battle.

* * *

On a certain lobby near the entrance of the same hospital, two certain people in white dresses - one of which is Lusamine - are watching a certain battle at the quadrangle of the hospital and made conversations to one another. At that time on the battlefield, the exhausted Flame Pokemon Charizard owned by a raven-haired winner of the Kalos League Conference was being overpowered by the unscathed Duck Pokemon Golduck owned by an orange-haired young lady.

"So, what happened, Miss Lusamine?"

"I told him about the offer, Mr. Chairperson."

"Hmm... Then, what's his answer?"

"He said that his top priority is to help the citizens of this city. After that, he will be making his decision."

"Anyway, you really decided to do it yourself, Mr. Chairperson."

"It can't be helped. I would like to see him myself."

Eventually, the chairperson of the so-called Aether Foundation then looked closely at the battlefield. He then saw two people and a Pikachu rushing to the spectators of the battle, which made him feeling interested for some reason.

 _So it is really a small world, indeed,_ he thought.

* * *

"It's been months since I've got here, Jessica."

"You're right. By the way, I've heard your fashion group got here. I'm happy to see you here anyway, Blossom."

"Yeah, me too. We're here to help to give free clothes for some people here in Lumiose City."

"That's so thoughtful of Valerie and the group to do that."

"By the way, your Furfrou is quite well-designed here!"

"Oh, really? Thank you. If it wasn't because of some friends I've met quite some time now, I couldn't able to work better now."

During that certain night in front of Friseur Furfrou, the fair-skinned fashion designer, Blossom, had a happy conversation with a certain blue-haired Pokemon trimmer, Jessica, being accompanied by a well-stylized Furfrou. [5]

"But... h, huh?"

"Uh! W, What is it, Blossom?"

"L, Look up, Jessica..."

The happy conversation between Blossom and Jessica had apparently interrupted as Blossom nervously pointed Jessica and her Furfrou towards a certain point above them...

"What was that?"

"I don't know..."

A blinding light appeared in the middle of star-filled dark skies above the Friseur Furfrou's establishment, much to the shock of everyone around the vicinity, especially Blossom, Jessica and the latter's Furfrou...

On that night, a certain mysterious creature slowly appeared from that portal - a white cockroach-like creature and then immediately dashed elsewhere at very high speeds without noticing the other people and Pokemon below it.

"UB-03..." Jessica mumbled something, much to the worry of Jessica.

"Huh?"

"Beauty..."

* * *

 _ **Continue on:**_ ** _Chapter 02: A Small Link To The Past_** _ **Part IV**_

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Part of Ash's past in "Pocket Monsters: The Animation" novels.  
 **[2]** One notable part of the worldbuilding in the Pokemon world in "Pocket Monster: The Animation" novels is that it followed such rules depending on the circumstances, even marriage at the age of ten, since being a 10-year-old is already considered adult. **  
[3]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 39 - Pokemon XYZ Episode 43  
 **[4]** Said conversation between Serena and her mother was also played out in Pokemon XYZ Episode 45 - One Last Battle With Ash! Serena's Choice!  
 **[5]** Pokemon XY Episode 008: Pokémon Trimmer and Trimmien!


	12. Small Link To The Past IV

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 02: A Small Link To The Past_** _**Part IV**_

* * *

 ** _Alan's Charizard VS Misty's Golduck_**

A certain battle between the blue, bipedal duck Golduck and the black draconic, bipedal dragon Charizard had been commencing few minutes earlier in a certain quadrangle - which also acted as a certain battlefield for the two Pokemon - under the night sky. The referee of this match was the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos Region, Professor Sycamore. On this moment, the Duck Pokemon immediately fired an orb of compressed water far above the mid-air. However, the moment the Duck Pokemon did that, the Flame Pokemon flew across the field, seriously unleashing a fist made of lightning with its eyes aiming at its opponent's stomach. The attack made contact to its target, probably would have deal an effective damage due to the duck's weakness on the type of the move the dragon used. Yet, the target itself immediately noticed the incoming attack and immediately put its arms in front, trying to defend the lightning strike from the opponent and attempting to lessen the effective damage dealt by the dragon by its arms making contact to such attack. Still, regardless of whether the blue duck successfully defended the opponent's attack or not, said attack still forcefully pushed back the former at a certain amount of distance from its reference point in few seconds. Also, regardless of whether the blue duck received effective damage from the lightning fist or not, after being thrown in mid-air, the duck immediately regained its positioning to a certain point near to a certain orange-haired lady, the person who commanded the duck. Said lady happened to unexpectedly used such Pokemon, considering she wanted to use the Atrocious Pokemon Gyarados instead before the Duck Pokemon got out of its ball like before, volunteering for a battle.

The black flame dragon immediately flew across the battlefield once again to attack the blue duck with a lightning fist. But this time, the latter successfully dodged the fast strike from the former, sliding under the flying dragon. Putting up some distance between it and the dragon, the duck jumped up and turned towards the dragon. Doing so, Golduck immediately forms a purple orb of energy in its hands and fires three dark purple beams from the orb at the opponent, hurting the Charizard with such sudden strike and slightly falling down because of it.

Before the black dragon regained its composure to stand ground and fight, the blue duck's crimson gem glows brightly, as the wielder proceeded to make a next move immediately by creating several wormholes that will fired electrified psychic energy through and in between the wormholes. The wormholes then disappeared along with the orb of water that was thrown into the sky.

Immediately as it turned towards the blue duck, the black dragon trying to make some payback by releasing a stream of blazing azure flame from its mouth to its opponent. However, before the flaming attack hit Golduck, the latter had already disappeared from its sight.

 _Where's the Golduck,_ the black dragon's raven-haired trainer in black outfit thought as he tried to evaluate the situation. This will most likely be the thought of the black dragon too as it looked around as well.

Little did the two know as well as the spectators watching such match, a certain set-up by the blue duck was about to complete.

Looking up, the black dragon eventually saw the blue duck floating in the sky via psychic ability. However, dark clouds had been formed to cover the sky above the said large quadrangle, and thus covering the azure waterfowl from the sight of said dragon as well as those of the spectators and of the black dragon's trainer. The dragon hurriedly proceeded to release another stream of blue flame to the direction to where the blue duck last found. But it hit no one.

Eventually, the rain set-up begins as water drops started to fall to the ground from those dark clouds and with that, Charizard is at disadvantage and its flames around its body had gone weaker, regardless of whether any of the Pokemon are empowered by anything or not. Just before the Charizard made an act, three dark rays of psychic energy hit the black dragon from elsewhere, hurting it once more. Then, three another rays of energy struck the dragon once again from nowhere...

And another...

And another...

While not as strong as the lightning fist the dragon used to the bipedal waterfowl, the barrage of psychic energy rays made the dragon feeling the pain. With that, its trainer looked above once more and said:

"Charizard, survey the skies above the clouds!"

The Charizard roared loudly following its trainer's order and proceeded to fly into the skies past the dark clouds. Because of that, the flames around its body had been slowly recovered. However, once it passes through the dark clouds, the bipedal duck is nowhere to be found once again. Eventually, another thin streams of purple psychic energy coming from nowhere reached the Flame Pokemon, hurting in pain and inflicting wounds onto its body once more. Unlike the previous attacks, such strike hit faster than ever before. Trying to make some payback, the black drake roared another stream of blue flames from its mouth passing through the dark clouds as an attempt in finding the location of the aquatic creature, but to no avail. Such attack didn't even reach the ground as the blue flames quickly dispersed because of the rainfall below those clouds.

Another thin streams of psychic energy struck the dragon once again out of nowhere, hurting the dragon even more. Because of this, the raven-haired trainer, Alan, immediately shouted, regardless of whether he saw his Pokemon or not.

"Charizard, smash the ground and finish this already with the Blast Burn!"

Regardless of the pain, Charizard roared once again as it proceeded to fly down to the wet battlefield - fast and while becoming engulfed in light blue flames. As it was few meters away from the ground, the dragon immediately punched the ground to release a wave of energy into the battlefield. Such energy burst upwards in a giant explosion of blue flames. Such attack slowly vaporized the clouds as well as the rainfall had gone weaker until none of the clouds remained in the wet battlefield.

However, the determined orange-haired trainer, Misty, commanded:

"Time's up! Golduck, attack Charizard with Signal Beam!"

A powerful streaky pink beam had reach the dragon's back this time, instead of the spiraling beams of purple energy. Unlike with those beams of purple psychic energy, such attack dealt ineffective damage to the Charizard, making it felt not much hurt as it was before. But...

"Charizard!"

Alan shouted as he noticed the dragon feeling exhausted for some reason. Eventually, the wormholes from before appeared around the draconic Pokemon.

"Charizard, dodge the Future Sight attack!"

The draconic Pokemon didn't hear him even when Alan shouted.

"Charizard!"

The Fire/Dragon-type Pokemon didn't hear Alan's voice for some reason as it didn't move in its position. Then, the wormholes proceeded to fire blasts of electrified psychic energy to the target, hurting the already exhausted Charizard even more, much to the surprise of every other spectators watching the battle...

... The spectators included Ash, who watched the battle through the window in a certain floor of the building, along with its mother, Delia. Despite of the injury, Ash proceeded to rush to go to the battlefield, despite his mother's concern.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Among the spectators nearest to the battlefield itself, the lemon-haired young girl, Bonnie, proceeded to talk to her lemon-haired brother about something:

"Hey, big brother! Did this remind us of something?"

"Dennene?" Dedenne, who is now found on Bonnie's head, agreed to its caretaker's question.

Her older brother, Clemont, nodded and answered as he eventually remembered a certain match, "this was the same situation as Ash's gym battle against Olympia in the Anistar City Gym. But this one's more dangerous than I had thought."

"Those fast attacks from Golduck... They must have been affected by the rain before, right," said the lemon-haired sports girl, Korrina, asking her co-Gym Leader about it.

"Yes... That must be Misty's Golduck's ability - Swift Swim," answered Clemont as he analyzed the situation where the rain was summoned once again by Golduck through the Rain Dance move, "Alan must already know Charizard's weakness under that weather condition. But that wasn't enough. There are lot of Pokemon whose abilities are affected by certain conditions."

Korrina concurred with this. Bonnie, on the other hand, felt worried as she said:

"Big brother, I didn't get what you mean about it."

Clemont proceeded to pat his younger sister's shoulders as he answered with a confident smile:

"If you've become a trainer two years from now, you'll understand these things too."

Such reply made the lemon-haired young girl felt confused.

After all, every Pokemon battle isn't just about using certain moves that would probably deal effective damage against a certain opponent, but also creating strategies that will affect not just to a specific Pokemon but also to anyone else.

In the case of this battle, for starters, a rain in the battlefield will weakened any damaging Fire-type move used and will improved the damage of any Water-type move. Also, there are abilities that affect a certain Pokemon wielding it whenever a rain was falling into the battlefield. One of which is Swift Swim that Golduck has as its ability. Such ability increases the speed of that Pokemon while being affected by the rain.

The battle still continued even though Alan and Charizard is in a clear struggle right now, something that shocked the spectators.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

 _So this is strength of a Gym Leader from Ash's home region. No wonder I really enjoyed such battle with Ash in the finals,_ Alan, thought as the battle in the rain continued, _I just hope Charizard recover from confusion before her Pokemon ended the battle._

Eventually, by a certain chance, despite the gap between the battlefield and the skies due to the clouds summoned by the avian creature, a certain lightning fist from the dragon hit the faster waterfowl's body, dealing very effective damage against the latter, almost falling into the ground after being hit.

Even so...

"There's no way I should lose this battle," Misty's assured with a confident smile, she's the winner of this battle. After all, the battlefield was still in favor of hers, "as I wanted to approve to someone that I already grew up to become one of the strongest Water-type Pokemon trainers in the world. Now, Golduck, go for Psyshock!"

While the avian creature was still on the wet ground, it once again formed in its right hand a purple orb of energy and was then fired three dark purple beams from the orb at the still-confused opponent in the mid-air.

 _But there's no way I'm going to lose here,_ Alan spoke for himself as he felt more determined than before. At this point, a battle was about to reach its climax.

"Charizard, direct Golduck's attack back to him and grab Golduck afterwards! I have a plan..."

* * *

Despite being an in-patient in this certain hospital, Ash rushed downstairs to go to a certain battlefield at the quadrangle, much to his mother's worry. Unlike the cold that had inflicted him while training with his Greninja and his Pikachu days before his Gym battle in Snowbelle City, his injury might possibly have cost him way more than just him in a fever while getting closer to a certain young lady just to command his Pokemon in his thoughts on that time.

Eventually, as they are about to reach a certain corridor in the first floor of the hospital where some of his friends were found and witnessed a battle in favor of the Cerulean City Gym Leader, two certain people in white outfit were slowly following them.

Once reaching the side of the raining battlefield where some of their friends are watching, Ash felt exhausted after running through stairs along with his mother. Especially Ash who had been resting unconsciously for three long days.

"I understand that you felt excitement when you've watched a Pokemon battle. But next time, don't do that again, my dear son," said Delia while giving her son a certain advice about her health.

"I, I'm sorry, mom," answered Ash while scratching his head about it, "don't worry, I'll be going to say anything whenever something was hurt within me... and either Serena or Pikachu will know that eventually whenever everyone's not around."

"Pikapika!"

With that, Delia nodded in agreement as they proceeded to go to the nearest spectators. As Ash, Pikachu and Delia were just about few distance away to reach Clemont and the others to watch the fight between Misty and her Golduck and Alan and his Charizard in the rain - with the battle still in favor of the levitating blue duck as the black dragon was covered with many bruises due to many quick strikes from the opponent. Regardless of its great fortitude when it came to Pokemon battles like this, neither the dragon's lightning fist or its most powerful strike, Blast Burn, that would vaporized the rain, could even reached the waterfowl because of either its rain-enhanced speed or waves of beam attacks, such as Psyshock and Signal Beam - the latter of which can cause confusion to those who are hit with it.

"Aren't you Ash of the Kanto Region's Pallet Town?"

A certain question from a certain someone had stopped Ash and the others from proceeding to their friends. Hearing such question made Ash feeling nervous for some reason. Because of this, Ash and Delia then looked back to see the owner of such deep voice.

As they turned around, they saw a raven-haired man and a lemon-haired young woman in white outfits - the woman had already introduced to them as Lusamine of the Aether Foundation. Delia, upon seeing the man though, flinched a bit, but immediately regained her composure as she puts her right hand to her heart. Ash then answered to the man while shaking hands with the man:

"Yes, I am Ash and this is my buddy, Pikachu."

"Pikachu," said Pikachu while shaking its soft hands to the man.

"I am his mother, Delia. Nice to meet you, Sir..."

"... Adam. Like Lusamine, I also worked for the Aether Foundation," said the raven-haired man as he also shook Delia's hands formally. He continued, "about the proposal..."

"I already said to Miss Lusamine that I will be prioritizing the safety of this city first before I could do anything else like your company's offer to me," answered Ash as he smiled at him.

"I see. This is as expected for a hero who saved many lives for the sake of better good."

Ash and Delia didn't say anything about it as the man continued:

"You see... Our research has something to do with the relationship between humans and Pokemon and yet, it's confidential for personal reasons."

"Sir Adam, what do you mean about it?"

"Don't worry. You will know more information once you decided to go to the Alola Region and visit us at the Aether Paradise, the location of our company, Ash."

"Okay, I completely understand now-"

Ash was about to continue his thoughts as Adam interrupted him.

"However, most importantly, the reason I'm here..."

Ash, Pikachu and Delia stunned a bit this time as Adam showed a certain red and white ball familiar to both of them from the pocket of his formal white coat. Ash realized what does it mean by that:

"A Pokemon Battle, isn't it, Sir Adam?"

"Yeah... In fact..."

Pressing a certain button of that ball summoned yet another Electric-type rodent that mystically went to Adam's left shoulders and immediately waved its little hands to its surprised fellow Electric-type rodent.

"Pikachu."

"Pika?!"

There goes yet another meeting between two Pikachu...

"My Pikachu and your Pikachu... isn't this interesting for you, young Ash?"

"..."

Few seconds of silence followed such invitation and then, sudden electrostatic discharges spread on the battlefield, creating sharp, loud cracks that will be heard around it.

After that, the Pokemon Professor who took charge the battlefield shouted...

"Golduck is unable to battle! The winners of this match are Alan and his Charizard!"

As the rain clouds slowly dispersed, such announcement shocked everyone who witnessed such battle, including those are watching from the corridors from the higher floors - including Serena and her mother Grace who eventually went out to find no one on that corridor near the younger raven-haired trainer and were worried about the missing mother-and-son duo of Delia and Ash. Serena, even got worried about the patient's still-weak health, already knew where he went, considering the recent match, followed by her mother, who only looked at her daughter with eagerness.

On the battlefield, Misty and Alan formally shook hands to one another, so do the Golduck and the Charizard, who was now returned to its normal form, as Clemont's group went to them as

"That was such a great battle, Alan. That was fully unexpected."

"You really did well with the strategy with your Golduck's moves. It makes my Charizard having a hard fight."

"That's why more often I was either chosen by the trainers to be their last challenge for their last badge to enter the Indigo League in the regions of Kanto and Johto... or much worse, avoided altogether."

"Really, Misty?"

"I can't say that's always true... But it really happened most of the time," answered Misty scratching her head in his answer. She added, "now, I know why Ash is having a fair fight with you there."

As that conversation continued in the quadrangle, Ash seriously answered back the raven-haired man in white formal outfit.

"Regardless of everyone else's protests especially my mother's, the doctor's and Serena's and even if I don't have an idea who you are, I cannot stop myself to fight someone like you if it means whether I will be joining you in your research or not."

"I see... If that's what you want, young Ash. That's fine with me."

"Pikapikachu!"

"Pikapi, Pika!"

Neither Adam's companion, Lusamine, nor Ash's mother, Delia, were responding to such inevitable battle between the two raven-haired trainers, as well as the two Pikachu...

Not even the worried Serena and her mother, who finally found Ash and his mother in such place in the first floor, can make a move to Ash for some uncertain reason...

Or even the others who are about to witness such battle...

An inevitable battle between two trainers...

* * *

Two days after that time...

Two days after that battle, in a certain wooden bench in the same place as the battlefield from where Alan and Misty - and later after that, Ash and a certain man named Adam - are two people - the 15-year-old raven-haired trainer Ash and a 15-year-old honey-haired performer Serena - sitting and looking at the same star-filled skies with curiosity on their faces. Both of them had already wearing their usual sleeping outfits on that time. Both of them are making conversations about various things, including both Ash's and Greninja's dismissal from their respective medical centers on the next day.

However, despite having such long time for both of them, Serena's right hand slowly approached Ash's left hand and yet, for some uncertain reason, she can't do it.

As that went by for Serena, their conversation continued...

"So, are you really going to Alola Region with them, Ash?"

"I cannot say I could, even with that battle happened... Even so, I am curious about such bond between me and Greninja. It might have scientific bases after all, Serena."

"You tried to be like Clemont, Ash," said Serena giving off some laugh to lessen Ash's seriousness, but...

"Besides..."

"Besides?"

"After you decided to become the world's greatest Pokemon Performer with the purpose of having the same path as Ms. Elle by going to hone your skills through the Pokemon Contests in the Hoenn Region..."

"Yes, I might as well have a chance to meet your old friends there like May and Dawn..."

"I decided to find a certain _clear path_ for myself..."

On that time, silence dominated the entire place.

With that, Serena felt shocked hearing this making her to face Ash and answering him with a worried expression:

"W, What do you mean by that, Ash?! Wasn't being a Pokemon Master your goal?! That's a clear dream of yours!"

"Yes... I still do think of it as a clear path somehow. But..."

Ash then looked at the brightest one among the stars that filled the dark skies and his right hand tried to reach that one... but such hand remained opened, unlike before.

"No matter how I traveled many regions in this world, it was too unclear to me on how to become one, after all."

Serena cannot answer such thought from her close friend - the person she admired the most. After all, she clearly realized what he meant with such words.

Pokemon Master is a title that any Pokemon Trainer, including Ash himself, had wanted to attain in very long time...

Yet, none was able to achieve such status no matter what ways such Pokemon Trainer tried so.

Such goal is too unclear to be attained after all...

* * *

 ** _Next Chapter: Chapter 03: The Inevitable Invitations_**

* * *

 _WRITER'S NOTE:_

 _Ace Trainer Alan  
_ Charizard - Charizardite X  
Type: Fire/Flying (Charizard) - Fire/Dragon (Mega Charizard X)  
Ability: Blaze (Charizard) - Tough Claws (Mega Charizard X)  
\- Flamethrower (Fire; Special)  
\- Thunder Punch (Electric; Physical)  
\- Dragon Claw (Dragon; Physical)  
\- Blast Burn (Fire; Special)

 _Leader Misty  
_ Golduck - None  
Type: Water  
Ability: Swift Swim  
\- Psyshock (Psychic; Special)  
\- Rain Dance (Water; Status)  
\- Signal Beam (Bug; Special)  
\- Future Sight (Psychic; Special)

Anyways, good day and have fun reading!


	13. EX 2: Answering Reviews

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series**_

* * *

 _ **EX CHAPTER 2: Answering Reviews**_

* * *

 _RevolutionizedWorld  
_ This story's focus might be a little bit odd despite the story's title. But it will definitely took a while before we could ever reach that part where the prologue happened (Ash and Alain battled one another in a certain match in the Pokemon World Tournament), especially with all of the chapters that will be focusing on the Alola Region itself as well as its characters, before heading towards the Pokemon World Tournament itself. Honestly, I can't answer whether this would be the finals match of the international tournament or not, but the important thing here is that this is a rematch between the two finalists of the recent Kalos League Conference.

I'll gonna miss Ash-Greninja in the anime by the way, as well as the entire XY gang if they no longer get any appearances though.

 _Poke shipper  
_ Oh! A Pokeshipper, huh? I already replaced all Japanese names into English names with a few exceptions where their Japanese names sounded better than the English ones (Elle over Aria as well as Millefeui over Miette). As for Ash and Misty's relationship a.k.a. Pokeshipping... I honestly have a hard time putting her into the spotlight in this story, especially the characters that will be focused a lot here are as follows for now:

I understand your point about Pokeshipping. It is actually a major focus of the Orange Islands arc of the Pokemon: Original Series, especially in the "Revelation Lugia" movie a.k.a. "The Power of One". But story-wise, Misty's just there throughout her companionship with Ash and Brock (Brock is just as same as Misty, especially in the Advance Generations series and Diamond and Pearl series), outside of the Whirl Cup arc in the Johto Region. This is that main reason I struggle to make a focus on her outside of her Gym Leadership and her possible feelings for the main character. I will probably looked at her some more since she appeared to have feelings for him as well - not as pronounced as Serena though.

 _ProDeniz, rakudaikenshi and Anabella Lucy Nox  
_ So Ash and Serena a.k.a. Armourshipping... I mean, Amourshipping is your OTP in Pokemon animated series, huh? Looks like she's going to be replaced by either Lillie or Mallow in the upcoming Sun and Moon series... Why there is no love for Lana?

Jokes aside... As an anime viewer and whether I'm a fan of Ash and Serena's relationship or not, I honestly like how the Pokemon XY series build the relationship of these two characters (more than even Ash and Pikachu) especially at the span of one season. It is actually strange that Ash acted differently than the usual self when he made conversations with Serena compared to anyone else compared with his conversations with just about anyone else. I might as well be counting the episode where Ash and Serena had a meaningful argument (and a little snowball fight too) as one of, if not, the best Pokemon episodes I've ever watched. The entire XY series is actually the first time we saw some glimpses of Ash's backstory through his perspective and Serena's perspective too. I can actually write things about the relationship of these two characters but most importantly, it is much easier to compare Ash's story (as he is about to go to an unknown yet ideal goal, but he's literally a hero and inspiration of everyone with his ideals, especially Serena) with Serena's story (as she starts out with no actual goal in mind, but she's now heading for a certain goal that she choose following Ash's ideals) more than the stories of his previous companion. Serena and Ash are actually comparable to the two characters above them in this story's little picture - namely Kaoru Shimizu and Goro Shigeno of the Major series - especially with their core personalities (Ash and Goro with their never-give-up attitude and optimism and Serena and Kaoru with their harboring feelings with the main character). NOTE: The picture itself was replaced recently with the image of Von Hohenheim and Edward Elric of Full Metal Alchemist series because of... well...

As for the conclusion for XYZ, I would actually wanted Serena to pursue on her goals while her heart should remain only on Ash, rather than making her go with Ash in the next region. It would also be an out of character for Serena to fell in love with anyone else other than Ash at this point. I personally would like to see more of Serena in the future as well, regardless of the conclusion. If not, I would be cool since the Pokemon Company only thought ratings from the Japanese audience matter, but not memorability - as the company even goes for a competition against the Yokai Watch to get that show's audience as well.

 _Guest #1  
_ Yes, he did. This story started after Pokemon XYZ Episode 43, but with some apparent changes like Ash's Greninja and Mairin's Chespie used certain powerful moves (Z-Moves) against that megalith (this is not as important right now honestly) and Ash saved Serena and Mairin from a certain attack.

 _Guest #2  
_ I knew that would come as a review here. So here it goes...

While I do have experiences writing headlines (especially sports) for my high school paper way before, I'm not really a good English writer, but I'll do my best for this work. I simply follow the format on writing such news anyways. Besides, I haven't read many novels nowadays considering my career having something to do with the numbers, equations and formulae. Thanks for the comment by the way. Tell me what should be corrected in the story. Thanks!

 _Guest #3  
_ Team Rocket's situation was fixed a long time ago. I should reply to you about this.

I agree with you about the Japanese cries of the Pokemon. They sounded better than the English ones. It's really strange that Pikachu retained its VA (Ikue Ohtani) in the English dub, which becomes weird once it played out, along with others like Bonnie's Dedenne and Korrina's Lucario.

 _thor94  
_ I'll be waiting until the final XYZ episode about whether Ash might have either platonic or romantic feelings for Serena, with all of his acts around her being quite different than the usual him we had seen before.

Considering the mechanics of the Z-Moves, it could be easier for Ash to make use of Z-Moves with his Pokemon (as well as those Pokemon that he will be going to get... I'll just wait for the cutest Generation VII starter, Rowlet, to be Ash's future starter).

EDIT (As of 12/1/2016): After watching the final XY episode, if Serena's going to appear in the future and meets Ash, it will probably be as awkward as possible, considering what happened to the two of them on that time, regardless of the status of their relationship. After all, Serena was trying conveyed her own feelings to him through means aside from saying _I love you_ to Ash directly - a love confession. But for now, I prefer to watch her journey in the Hoenn Region. That feels more interesting to watch for me.

 _Tashsasaurous  
_ The animation of SM series turned out to be actually better than of the XY series, as the latter suffered from having still images from time to time (I hope this should not be an issue too in Sun and Moon anime). The only issue right now is on the character designs, but especially Ash, Jessie and James. As far as the trailers went by, Ash actually returned to become more expressive in this series from the most ideal self in XY, especially since XY's storyline mostly came from Serena's perspective.

One thing to note about Ash's story is that his story was only determined by the higher officials of the Pokemon Company. I can't see a reason for any fan to oppose this unlike, say, the Pokemon Adventures manga series where characters from the previous chapters actually returned in the current ones. For now, the most interesting part about this series for now is on the reason Ash had been gone to study in the Alola Region since said region doesn't have a Pokemon League. This is one of the reasons I'll be waiting for the final XYZ episode. Otherwise, it will be illogical for Ash to just go there without a good reason.

EDIT (As of 12/1/2016): The start of SM anime actually turned out to be pretty good... Just not as awesome as XY's start... and despite the episodes' delivery of their own stories (specifically, the "best starter" Rowlet episode) it already suffered some problems (oversaturation of the known Sun and Moon characters in just four episodes [especially since all of them were introduced in the first episode, making these characters more forgettable and not as fleshed out so far], one character felt useless already [Samson Oak (anime)], another character felt annoying over time [Rotomdex], one character whose problem should have been solved already if not because of _plot armour_ and _forced contrivances_ [Lillie (anime)... I like Lillie (game) though] and probably some more.

 _Guest #4  
_ I haven't finished my story, sir/madam. But thanks for loving my story.

About the fanfiction you want me to work on, thanks for that, but I am no fan of such concept. I am more focused on making things realistic while staying close to canon. The Pokemon animated series is all about Ash's journey, after all, regardless of possibilities including goals, regions, creatures, pairings, etc. I will not rely too much on making things exaggerated, like saving the world, taking things outside of the Pokemon's actual worldbuilding, etc. That's not my forte, not because I can't do that, but rather I don't prefer to write for that myself.

 _InfernapeXD203  
_ First of all, I appreciate your likeness to this story.

While having "more Kalos, less Alola" can be possible for me to work on, one of the story's purposes is to show off the Alola Region and its culture as well, even though the story's more about anything else. Alola Region feels interesting to look at since it felt "different".

About the Mega Charizard X vs Golduck one... Realistically Golduck doesn't stand a chance against Mega Charizard X, but the Pokemon animated series is an anime where it could defy logic at times, like how Sawyer's Mega Sceptile's Frenzy Plant doesn't affect Ash's Greninja, or Alain's Mega Charizard X's Blast Burn defeated Ash's Greninja's Water Shuriken. Quite funny that it happened like those. However, there is one word I could reply about the battle: confusion. For those who will read this answer and you do not know that much about the moves in main Pokemon games, Signal Beam is a Bug-type Special move caused confusion to its opponent when successfully hit. After all, Pokemon games aren't something like the Pokemon GO.

EDIT: I eventually changed something to appreciate Alain even more :)

* * *

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER: Chapter 03: The Inevitable Invitations (CHAPTERS 013-017)**_

* * *

 _As of 10/24/2016:_

 _Anyways, thanks for the reviews and comments._

 _Again, good day and happy reading._


	14. Inevitable Invitations I

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction ** _  
_**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _**Part I**_

* * *

The date is May 15, 20XX.

At a certain night, two days after two certain battles that happened in a certain battlefield within the hospital, there was a certain raven-haired trainer - a patient of said hospital - sitting on one of the wooden benches around said quadrangle and looking at the dark skies. On that time, he hadn't thought of anything in his mind - aside from his battle against certain someone, that is.

* * *

Two days ago (May 13, 20XX), he and a certain member of Aether Foundation named Adam decided to have a match between one another for their own reasons. Ash thought this would an invitation to the new region he hadn't reached yet, but mostly for the research purposes for the organization. Adam, whose left hand was being put on one of the pockets of his formal pants for some reason, thought this as something else different from Ash. With most of the spectators Ash knew very well saw Ash going to do this in his worse condition yet and nothing to do to stop it, the battle between two Pikachu had begun:

 ** _Ash's Pikachu VS Adam's Pikachu_**

 _"Pikachu, start it with Quick Attack."_

Following the command of its trainer, Ash's Pikachu immediately charged itself to its opponent who was on the other side of the field with lightning speed and leaving a white streak on its trail.

 _"Pikachu, do it with Meteor Mash."_

Ash surprised a bit hearing such confident command from that trainer, so did the dashing Pikachu and the spectators witnessing the battle as Ash looked at them, with some, especially Serena, Clemont, Alan and Misty, seemingly talking about it as well as the previous match between the recent Kalos League Conference winner and the Cerulean City Gym Leader. Notably, Serena worriedly looking at a certain digital device, the Pokedex, as well as his mother, Delia, looking at the older raven-haired trainer for some reason. Following the command of its trainer, Adam's Pikachu glowed bluish-white as it charged at full speed to its opponent, resembling that of a comet's path.

The two lightning speed attacks collided, hitting one another with such strong impact upon contact that created a shockwave with it due to Adam's Pikachu's Meteor Mash. While the two Pikachu was still still in mid-air due to the collision, red and orange lights then shoot upwards in front of Adam's Pikachu and then balled of the same colored aura appear in front of it, before disappearing, increasing its physical power, due to the Meteor Mash's effect. Ash felt worried with this, yet continued:

 _"Pikachu, struck it with your Thunderbolt."_

The younger raven-haired trainer's Pikachu, hearing its trainer's orders while still in mid-air being flinched a bit due to Meteor Mash, immediately returned to its senses and proceeded to release powerful bolts of high-voltage electricity from its body at the opponent. However...

 _"Pikachu, protect yourself with Icicle Crash."_

 _"An Ice-type move for that Pikachu,"_ replied Ash as he felt more surprised hearing yet another confident command and the older raven-haired trainer's Pikachu, while still in mid-air immediately released a wind with light blue sparkles in it from its mouth into the air, so did his Pikachu and the spectators. He added, _"how's this happening?"_

As the younger trainer's Pikachu fired lightning bolts towards its opponent, large icicles summoned from the wind created by the older trainer's Pikachu fell from the sky, and timely protected said Pikachu from the lightning strikes before such attack hit it, at the expense of breaking the icicles to water droplets falling to the ground. With that, the latter Pikachu landed successfully on a certain ground without getting hurt by the lightning strikes, as well as the former Pikachu still felt surprised on the moves its opponent.

 _"Are you surprise, young Ash?"_

 _"..."_

 _"I expected that you should. After all, Pikachu cannot learn any of these moves naturally, but through certain circumstances, such Pokemon can learn moves that were beyond their limits... just like the mysterious Greninja."_

Ash then decided to do something in this situation - a bizarre situation.

 _"Hmm... Pikachu, use your Quick Attack once again."_

Ash's Pikachu followed the order of its trainer and ran forward at a lightning speed once again. Yet...

 _"Pikachu, counter it with your Meteor Mash."_

Following such order, Adam's Pikachu once again glowed bluish-white at a speed similar to that of a certain small icy celestial object and charged towards the opposing Pikachu dashing towards itself as well.

 _"Dodge it, Pikachu and hit your opponent with your Electro Ball."_

Determined, Ash's Pikachu immediately evaded the attack of a comet and then proceeded to turn around and to generate electricity. All the electricity then condenses in Ash's Pikachu's tail and forms into an orb of electricity. Said Pikachu then fires the orb of electricity at the opponent.

Such lightning attack eventually hit the opponent, possibly dealing ineffective damage due to the move's typing and the opponent Pokemon's typing. However, still running like a comet, Adam's Pikachu turned slowly around towards Ash's Pikachu and charged to the latter again, which made everyone feeling shocked there. Notably, Adam's Pikachu was also surrounded by a certain crimson aura as it sped up its way to its opponent, increasing its special power. Said Pikachu then struck out the shocked Ash's Pikachu with much powerful impact due to collision, pushing away the latter near its trainer and hurting it more in process.

Like before, due to Meteor Mash's effect, Adam's Pikachu was once again covered with crimson aura, an indication that its physical power was increased once more.

This means a difficult battle for Ash and his Pikachu.

 _That Pikachu must have Lightning Rod as its ability, mustn't it? Then my Pikachu only hit it with either Quick Attack or Iron Tail. If only Pikachu can make use of its Static ability against his Pikachu,_ Ash thought as it then looked at the Pikachu that had just empowered itself by certain effects. Even worse, Adam then ordered the Pikachu once again:

 _"Now, use Electric Terrain."_

Adam's Pikachu shouted loudly as it released multiple rings of electricity from its body, causing the battlefield to be filled with manipulated electricity, increasing the power of the Electric-type moves. Such is a really worse situation for Ash and his Pikachu. Ash reminded him of his battle with his certain lemon-haired young inventor whom he accompanied with in his journey in this region. With nothing to do, Ash decided to do something else:

 _"Pikachu, go with the Quick Attack once again."_

 _"Then, Pikachu, counter that with the Meteor Mash."_

As both Pikachu are about to collide with one another at lightning speed, everyone else watching the battle was seemingly wondered about Ash's commands to his Pikachu, with mostly anyone but Misty, Lillia and Delia somehow explained about Ash's brilliant strategies when it comes to Pokemon battles especially when he arrived at this region, something that made Misty feeling amused about it. Ash continued:

 _"Pikachu, quickly jump and use your Iron Tail to smash the ground. Now."_

Following such risky command, Ash's Pikachu immediately jumped high to evade an attack of a comet and hit such attack to the ground with its glowing tail, causing some of the area of dirt being smashed broke apart to many large pieces. With that, the electricity manipulated by the Electric Terrain move slowly broke down. Once again, the dashing Pikachu turned around, charging towards Ash's Pikachu.

Ash's Pikachu immediately jumped up once again to avoid the strike of a comet, making the opposing Pikachu going towards the direction of its trainer and its partner, Lusamine, at that time.

Eventually, Adam's Pikachu slowed itself as it turned around once again until it stopped moving and proceeded to fire a massive beam of electricity towards the sky from its body. Said beam of electricity struck down from the sky to hit Ash's Pikachu with several lightning bolts. But as Ash's Pikachu was about to take itself to the ground, it quickly responded by immediately pointing its glowing tail towards the direction of the lightning bolts before these bolts hit its body instead - and absorbing such bolts like a lightning rod, amusing Misty and Delia even more than before, convinced about this change of pace from Ash.

The absorbed powerful lightning bolts collected by Ash's Pikachu's enhanced tail were then converted into a giant ball of compressed electricity, that was immediately fired to a certain ground where Adam's Pikachu was standing. The latter confidently stood ground, attempting to absorb such compressed electricity in order to increase its special power even further due to its ability Lightning Rod. Eventually, the attack hit both Adam's Pikachu and the ground around it, the latter of which made some of the electrical energy converted into wasted heat energy while the former was being absorbed by Adam's Pikachu, increasing its special power even more.

However...

 _"Quick, Pikachu. Use your Quick Attack and hit his Pikachu with your all."_

Following such command, the slightly exhausted Ash's Pikachu immediately struck down its opponent with a certain lightning-speed attack, pushing the latter out of the battlefield with such force, spreading some of the dirt on its trail. Adam and Lusamine felt slightly surprised with this. The older raven-haired trainer as well as the long lemon-haired female partner Lusamine immediately went to his stuttered Pikachu as Ash's Pikachu returned to its position near its trainer:

 _"Are you alright, Pikachu?"_

Adam's Pikachu nodded as it slowly stood up on its ground and then leaped back to the battlefield.

 _"That was impressive of you, young Ash. To be able to pull that technique is quite interesting."_

 _"Such technique happened to be one of my experiences in my life as a Pokemon Trainer. I always wanted my experiences to yield better results in the future."_

 _"I see. No wonder your results as a Pokemon Trainer has gotten improved over time, didn't it? But..."_

 _"Huh?"_

Adam slowly proceeded to raise a certain sharp diamond-shaped crystal with his right hand from his pocket and spoke confidently once again.

 _"I will not going to lose, young Ash. Pikachu, surround the field with Electric Terrain once again."_

Adam's Pikachu roared once again, releasing multiple bolts of lightning from its body, causing the battlefield to be filled with manipulated electricity, causing an increase in the power of the Electric-type moves. Ash immediately reacted as his Pikachu excitedly nodded, as the others feeling nervous watching this battle:

 _"Be ready, Pikachu."_

 _"Pikachu, use your Icicle Crash to surround the battlefield with large icicles!"_

The battle was commenced once again as Adam's Pikachu immediately summoned a cold wind to the sky that will be creating large icicles on top of Ash's Pikachu. Such icicles immediately fell down from the sky fast enough. However, the younger raven-haired trainer's Pokemon immediately ran as fast as possible towards its opponent as its trainer ordered it to do so without commanding to use a certain Normal-type priority move.

The icicles produced through a certain cold wind in the sky were still falling near the dashing Pikachu. But the opposing Pikachu then hurriedly ran like a comet towards Ash's Pikachu. The attack connected to Ash's Pikachu, dealing ineffective damage, but then both of them were then hit by the some of the icicles falling from the sky, making both of them hurt even more than before - mainly due to the increased physical power of Adam's Pikachu thanks to the effect of Meteor Mash.

And now, the battlefield is not only filled with manipulated electricity, but also with large icicles having their tips onto the ground within it, while both of the Pikachu are being surrounded with this kind of field.

 _"Pikachu, use your Iron Tail on the icicles and hit those to his Pikachu."_

Following such order from Ash, his Pikachu began to use its glowing tail to cut some of the icicles near them to two and smash these icicles towards the direction of its opponent one by one. The opposing Pikachu immediately dodged those attacks from its opponent by leaping through the top of each nearby icicles per each of the icicles thrown to it.

And then, while jumping high enough few meters above Ash's Pikachu.

 _"Use your Icicle Crash and hit the opponent immediately!"_

Adam's Pikachu then summoned another wave of icicles that will be then falling fast into the location of Ash's Pikachu, much to the latter's surprise. However, Ash's Pikachu, returning its confidence through its trainer's command, then immediately released a stream of lightning bolt from its body to break the icicles into small pieces before some will hit it - even if that would mean an increase in Adam's Pikachu's special power since such Electric-type attack was being absorbed by its Lightning Rod effect, making such Pikachu became more dangerous than before.

 _"Now, Thunder!"_

Still in mid-air, Adam's Pikachu unleashed a massive stream of electricity in the sky that would be falling down fast, becoming powerful streams of lightning that will hit the entire battlefield, destroying all of the icicles on the battlefield as well as hitting its opponent with such powerful attack... almost.

 _"Pikachu, Iron Tail!"_

Ash's Pikachu leaped high enough to dodge such massive lightning strike and used its glowing tail to take down fast its opponent in the mid-air back to the ground near its trainer. With that, the battlefield is already wet all around due to the water that were converted from being icicles, along with the manipulated electricity through its Electric Terrain. As both Pikachu returned to their position near their trainers, the older raven-haired trainer began to speak once again:

 _"Thank you, young Ash."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Thank you for such experience. This is truly a great battle between both of us and our Pikachu."_

 _"Me too. I had such great experience with you, Sir Adam. I don't even know if you're a Pokemon trainer, but I enjoyed this kind of fair battle,"_ answered Ash with such serious confidence on his strategies as his Pikachu agreed to him as well.

 _"However..."_

 _"However?"_

 _"There are some things that had been unrecognized by almost everyone around but a few, young Ash."_

With anyone's attention to the older raven-haired trainer, Adam eventually picked up a certain small yellowish crystal-like object from his pants's pocket and immediately held such item very tightly up to the sky with his right hand. Much to the surprise of everyone watching the battle but Adam's companion, Lusamine, who was now wearing a certain sunglasses, his right hand illuminated very bright - bright enough to blind anyone around him with such light. Adam then commanded his Pikachu once more:

 _"Pikachu, do it now!"_

Because of such light, Ash tried to have his eyes open but immediately covered his eyes with his arms for several seconds, along with everyone else...

Some time after that...

 _"How's that happened, big brother?!"_

 _"I don't know, Bonnie! An unknown phenomenon..."_

 _"What was that?!"_

 _"That light... Was that...?!"_

 _"That's not a Keystone, Professor. It's something else. That's for sure!"_

 _"I know, Alan."_

As Ash slowly uncovered his eyes while hearing such voices from his friends, the bright light was gone as well as the manipulated electricity. All that remained in the battlefield were the two Pikachu - one of them had been fainted to the ground for a little while.

 _"Pikachu!"_

Along with the others that immediately ran Ash then ran towards his fainted Pikachu with Delia now holding her son's shoulders.

 _"Pikachu, are you okay?"_

Slowly awakened, his Pikachu nodded slowly in response due to injuries he took from a certain unknown attack.

 _"I'm glad that you're fine, Pikachu. But... W, What was that?"_

 _"You should already knew the answer, young Pokemon Master..."_

 _"That attack just now... Was that something we do not even know?"_

 _"That move... That was called Catastropika."_

 _"Catastropika?"_

Eventually, for some reason, Adam remembered something and asked him seriously, causing Ash to feel eager about it.

 _"Ah, I remember... Do you know how to become a Pokemon Master, young Ash?"_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"There are a lot of rumors that to attain such title. You should know that."_

 _"Y, Yeah... To attain such title, you must catch all of the Pokemon in this world... or become a Champion Master..."_

 _"..."_

 _"Or to defeat various trainers especially the Pokemon Champions and the Elite Four members in official battles... Right, Sir Adam?"_

 _"Hmm... There are a lot of ways, right? But do you believe you can achieve the goal to become a Pokemon Master with all of those requirements?"_

 _"W, What do you mean?"_

 _"You yourself should already know... The journey to becoming the Pokemon Master is long and difficult. Most importantly, it is an unclear one at that."_

 _"..."_

 _"I am once doing the same thing as you are. But over time, there are uncertainties in doing so. Do you think there's one that exist, young Ash?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Knowing that, will you keep going?"_ [1]

* * *

Back in the present time, Ash then looked at his hands carefully...

"Pokemon Master, huh? Did I actually attain the title a long time ago? The more I think about it, the more I got confused seeking answers about it."

"Are you still thinking of what happened two days ago, Ash?"

"Eh?"

Ash then turned at his back, only to see a certain honey-haired female childhood friend coming and sitting near him, along with his fully-healed Pikachu on her arms.

"Serena? Pikachu?"

Pikachu then leaped excitedly towards its trainer's arms, much to the latter's delight.

"I and everyone else never really knew what had happened back then. I'm really sorry."

"No need for that, Serena! I and Pikachu was really surprised about it too. I was still wondering what kind of move that was called Catastropika did that Pikachu was used when Sir Adam used that crystal. I'm really curious about it!"

"Anyways..."

"Hm?"

Ash looked carefully at Serena who was then looked down giving off a weak smile to herself, something that Ash noticed with some curiosity.

"Good luck on your date with Katherine tomorrow, Ash," said Serena as she faced him with the such smile, which made Ash even wondered about it.

"W, Wait... Why are we in that topic now, Serena?! Are you thinking of-"

"Both you and Greninja will be discharged tomorrow, won't you? You might as well be doing it immediately before going to the Alola Region sooner. You'll regret not doing it for her."

The black-haired trainer felt very surprised when the honey-haired performer said those last words while feeling worried.

 _Regret, huh?_ _I will be regretting myself if I stopped pursuing my goal and went to a different path, won't I? Will I keep going?_

His thoughts for himself while looking at the star-filled dark skies.

"Ash?"

"Ah... I'm sorry, Serena. I'm spacing myself out, right?"

Ash scratched his head while laughing weakly at the receiver, who then sighed at her. She answered:

"You had been like that since you had awakened from that long sleep. Is there... anything that bothered you?"

"Huh?"

Serena immediately remembered the events between the previous battle between Ash and a certain trainer in his thirties named Adam and their conversation now - something that Ash knew already.

As expected, Clemont had decided to continue his Gym Leader status and had more confidence fighting off the aspiring Pokemon Trainers with their best, thanks to his experiences while traveling with Ash in the entire Kalos Region. [2]

After a few series of conversations with her mother Grace and Ash before, Serena herself had refused the invitation to train under a certain producer named Palermo and had given her an advice to go to the regions well-known for a certain competition called Pokemon Contests, namely the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh - all of which her close friend Ash had traveled previously - to hone her skills as a Pokemon Performer. Ash had been excitedly told her on that time she revealed that that she might ended up becoming one of, if not, the world's greatest Pokemon Performers, something that would made her happy inside - and not so much for Clemont's Chespin who will be missing her Poffins as well as its best friend, Serena's Pancham. [3]

Alan decided to continue helping Professor Sycamore as the latter's assistant in response to the events of the past, something that the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos Region happily accepted. [2]

The Hoenn Region's Pokemon Champion Steven, one of the Kalos Region's Elite Four Malva and the Kalos Region's Pokemon Champion Diantha, along with the aid of the members of the Kalos military and police, had been fighting off the remaining members of Team Flare under the leadership of Xerosic, one of its administrators.

Yesterday for a certain unknown reason, Delia, Ash's mother, along with her and Misty, had personally met the two members of the Aether Foundation, Adam and Lusamine, at Restaurant Rolling Dreamer through a certain invitation for her after the battle between Ash and Adam at this hospital. The latter two are about to leave for the Alola Region to continue for their research. Also, for a certain unknown reason, she felt Ash's mother had been serious throughout her conversations with Adam, even though the entire conversation was about their concerns on Ash's condition.

Finally, despite the fact that the Pokemon Center of the Lumiose City cannot say anything about Ash's Greninja's current condition considering the fact that it uses a certain move that Ash never taught to it - the same as Mairin's Chespie's condition, Lumiose City's Nurse Joy revealed that Greninja itself felt fine and none of certain symptoms of any illness had been revealed so it will be discharged on the same day as Ash's dismissal as well - something that anyone especially Ash felt excited for.

And yet, like his mother, she noticed throughout Ash isn't as excited as he did before since he wakes up from a long slumber. Not even a Pokemon battle against a certain stranger could wake him up to become active and optimistic unlike before. Most importantly, she's not the only one who noticed his sadness - but also anyone else around him - especially his mother, Delia.

It was something that bothered her - as well as her mother - throughout what had happened since two days ago. She thought it might have something to do about his past.

She then continued speaking in a vast concern to him:

"So... are you really going to Alola Region, Ash?"

"I cannot say I could, even with that battle happened... Even so, I am curious about such bond between me and Greninja, so that would be my next destination of my journey. It might have scientific bases after all, Serena."

"You tried to be like Clemont, Ash," said Serena giving off some laugh to lessen Ash's seriousness, but...

"Besides..."

"Besides?"

"After you decided to become the world's greatest Pokemon Performer with the purpose of having the same path as Ms. Elle by going to hone your skills in the regions where Pokemon Contests are held..."

"Yes, I might as well have a chance to meet your old friends there like May and Dawn..."

"I decided to find a certain _clear path_ for myself... away from being a Pokemon Master..."

Serena and Pikachu felt shocked hearing this making her to face Ash and answering him with a worried expression:

"W, What do you mean by that, Ash?! Wasn't being a Pokemon Master your goal?! That's a clear dream of yours!"

"Yes... I still do think of it as a clear path somehow. But..."

Ash then looked at the brightest one among the stars that filled the dark skies and his right hand tried to reach that one... but such hand remained opened, unlike before.

"Seeing no one achieving such dream and no matter how I traveled many regions in this world, it was too unclear to me on how to become one, after all."

Serena cannot answer such thought from her close friend - the person she admired the most.

"Isn't Pokemon Master...?! Ah!"

After all, she snapped herself back to the reality as she clearly realized what he meant with such words as she looked down.

Pokemon Master is a title that any Pokemon Trainer, including Ash himself, had wanted to attain in very long time... Yet, none was able to achieve such status no matter what ways such Pokemon Trainer tried so.

Rumors said that to become one, you need to be an elite trainer who is considered a professional and regularly takes part in Pokemon League competitions, something that Ash had already done _seven_ times already - in the regions of Kanto, Orange, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and recently, Kalos.

Some others said that to become one you need to catch all of the Pokemon in the world, but not every Pokemon are easily captured, especially the so-called mythical Pokemon, a group of Pokemon seen so rarely in this world that some question their very existence. To Ash, there was only one Pokemon trainer who actually owned one - Tobias, the winner of the Lily of the Valley Conference in the Sinnoh Region where Ash himself participated, with his Darkrai.

Some rumors said it is attainable to become an Elite Four member. However, most of the Elite Four Ash met in the past wouldn't feel that there are indeed Pokemon Masters.

With all of these rumors and then some, such goal seemed easy to be achieved and yet it is too unclear to be attained after all.

"Ash?!"

"Huh? What is it?"

Serena eventually called back his attention that had been towards something else before she did so, smiling and blushing at him for some reason.

"Let's... do something!"

Ash and Pikachu felt surprised hearing her saying such words to him.

"W, Wait, Serena..."

"Don't worry... Just come with me!"

Saying such words, Serena eventually pulled him out of the bench as the two went to the center of the same battlefield where Ash had fought Adam two days ago, feeling determined despite the reddening on her face due to what she had done now. Serena knew how serious Ash was during that entire battle. As they finally reached their destination, Ash asked feeling wondered:

"In this battlefield? Do you mean a Pokemon battle?"

"Yes. I'm sure you are going to do this whenever you're disappointed about something, Ash," answered Serena, while still giving him a concerned smile.

"Uh... T, Thank you, Serena..."

Ash responded back by giving her a thoughtful smile for some reason. Light wind blew around the battlefield as she spoke to him:

"Now that I think about it, I have never fought with you alone before, Ash. But now, if you still don't find answers about becoming a Pokemon Master, then we should do this... for your _new resolve_..."

Hearing her encouraging words, Ash widened his eyes and felt shocked. After all, he had been following his dream to become a Pokemon Master until now. Mentioning the words _new resolve_ is something Ash never heard in the past for himself. It is not that he never had other choices... Rather, he only choose that one choice for himself for a certain reason. He literally became a hero in his journey throughout many regions, especially in this region, where his optimism is what made every other person and Pokemon convinced to against the Team Flare five days ago.

Serena, on the other hand, felt the need of the choice for him. After all, she can't let herself be angry at him about the lack of _realistic_ goal for himself. Also, she had been admiring him since the first time they met back in Pallet Town. Their series of conversations during their travels in this region is what made her stronger than before, giving her the opportunity to have a goal for herself along with her Pokemon, like Ash did for his own Pokemon.

With that, Ash had no other choice but to nod at her.

The performer and the trainer then went the opposite sides of the battlefield as they are going to reveal the Pokemon of their choice.

"Come out, Braixen!"

Serena threw out Braixen's Pokeball, mystically summoned the Fox Pokemon in front of her. Braixen felt ready for a certain battle.

"Braixen, huh? Then, let's go, Pikachu."

Pikachu responded by going into the ground in front of its trainer, also ready for a battle. Ash felt slightly excited with this somehow. After all, Ash himself thought this is a battle between their first Pokemon they owned - both of which are on their second stages of their respective evolutionary lines.

 ** _Serena's Braixen VS Ash's Pikachu_**

"Braixen, use your Flamethrower!"

After a short dance, the Fox Pokemon pointed its wand at the opponent and formed a red-orange flame at its tip. It then released a stream of flames from the tip of its wand at the opponent. Unfortunately for Pikachu...

"A new resolve, huh? It wasn't that bad to do that, was it?"

The worried Ash, who eventually thought of many things regarding with the words Serena said to him, hasn't given any command to its Mouse Pokemon, making the flame stream hitting Pikachu a bit - something that made Ash getting snapped from its thoughts back to the reality.

"Pikachu?"

Pikachu eventually stood ground afterwards, feeling fine as the battle continued. Serena commanded:

"Go for Psychic!"

"Psychic?!"

Ash and Pikachu felt surprised with such order from Serena. With that, Braixen immediately glowed light-blue and telepathically took control of Pikachu against its will through psychic powers and flew the Mouse Pokemon into mid-air. Braixen then telepathicallly threw Pikachu down with a such force. Even then, Pikachu remained unscathed from such attack. Ash returned to the reality that he's in a Pokemon Battle against

"Pikachu, I can count on you, right?"

Seeing Pikachu excitedly nodded as possible, Ash started to feeling fired up as well as he continued:

"Pikachu, use your Electro Ball."

"Braixen, use Psychic to Pikachu's Electro Ball!"

Following Ash's command, Pikachu released a ball of compressed electricity from its tail and threw such ball towards Braixen. Braixen immediately pointed its wand towards the ball of electricity and successfully controlled it to make the ball go back fast enough towards Pikachu, making Ash feeling impressed with Serena. However...

"Pikachu, use your Iron Tail to absorb the rebound."

Pikachu eventually pointed its glowing tail towards the returning ball of electricity in order to absorb it - like what it had done to Adam's Pikachu's Thunder move. Pikachu then released a stream of electricity towards Braixen. Braixen dodged such powerful lightning attack, making such strike hitting only the ground around the Fox Pokemon.

Eventually, Pikachu and Braixen jumped high enough as they go for a clash through its tail (Iron Tail) and its claws (Scratch) respectively. As both of them successfully landed on the ground near their fired-up trainers:

"Pikachu, use your Thunderbolt."

"Braixen, go for Fire Blast now!"

Pikachu summoned a stream of electricity from its body aiming towards the opponent while Braixen then released a _dai_ -shaped blast of fire from its stick aiming at its opponent as well. Those streams of fire and electricity clashed with one another... and it ended up resulting to a fair battle between two certain Pokemon finishing their attacks on that clash.

A large smoke from a certain collision between the clash of flame and lightning was summoned around the battlefield afterwards, covering the entirety of it and between both the trainers and their Pokemon.

Several seconds later, the smoke had slowly disappeared as Ash had eventually commented about something with a satisfied smile:

"That was quite well done, Serena. You're really good with your Braixen!"

"As expected, you too, Ash and Pikachu!"

Serena said such words with such genuine smile as well. However, as the two and their Pokemon approached one another to the center of the battlefield, she then eventually asked him a certain question while putting her right hand to her heart - specifically to the blue ribbon, a gift Serena received from Ash during their time in Coumarine City for a certain festival under the Tree of Promises. [4]

"Do you have anything in your mind now, Ash?"

"Huh? No, not yet, Serena," said Ash as he had become serious with his thoughts, "it is obviously not quite as fast as I could think of right now. That's because I'm only aiming at one direction all this time."

"I see... Don't worry, you might have get some answer maybe once you arrived at the Alola Region, Ash."

"But, that's not what I mean... There's actually one thing that comes to mind whenever I came to think for an alternative in regards to become a Pokemon Master and when I thought about being invited by the Aether Foundation two days ago, Serena."

"R, Really?"

"Perhaps, it was only you and my mother that I will be going tell you about it, Serena."

As they were only less than a meter away from another Ash eventually put his right hand in front of her right hand - to where her heart is - as he said something to her.

"..."

Her response to what Ash had told to her:

"I see... I understand, Ash. Maybe you should give that a try..."

Ash only nodded. However, feeling determined as she remembered a certain scene similar to this situation, Serena spoke once again as she faced him closely this time much to their Pokemon's surprise.

"Most importantly, don't reflect too much upon yourself, Ash!"

"H, Huh?!"

"That all I can do for now. You still have a lot of goals to have reach for! If you have time to worry about something so silly, why don't you try as hard as possible to reach all of the goals you're striving for?!"

Hearing those words, Ash felt shocked about it.

"B, But you knew what am I saying, Serena..."

"We're just like what we were before. Do you remember, Ash?"

After a short while, Ash closed his eyes as he remembered that one certain scene in the past - back in Snowbelle City day after losing his Gym battle against Gym Leader Wulfric for the first time. There are no snowballs to throw this time though. [6]

"I, I understand..."

 _I hope Ash could past this... The only thing I can do is to cheer him up the best I could,_ Serena thought since she's now completely aware of his goal being a little bit ideal in a realistic world.

An ideal just as same as attaining the so-called ultimate peace that young boys who tried to be heroes themselves had wished long time ago.

Still, she knew there are hopes that will come to answer Ash's worries throughout these times. Especially today...

* * *

At that certain evening at the Lumiose City International Airport, a certain blue-haired young man and a certain purple-haired young lady are now walking towards the exit of the establishment, feeling annoyed to see one another somehow.

"..."

"..."

"Hm..."

"Hmmm..."

Feeling annoyed, the blue-haired man finally broke the silence between them.

"You know, it feels strange to the body that we're awake in the nighttime. Do you feel the same?"

"..."

"Hmm... Okay, I guess this should an affirmation from you, young lady."

"..."

The young man only sighed at the silence of the lady walking beside him. After a short while, as they are about to reach the main lobby of the establishment. The blue-haired man spoke to her once again.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"You too, what are you really doing here?"

"Of course, I was assigned by the Silver League to invite that person to join our group. After all, that person had been participated before in the Silver League Conference several years ago."

"Oh... Do you mean...? What a coincidence..."

"So, you too, huh?"

"Even though, I haven't faced him myself personally, I was also assigned to do this by the Indigo League on behalf of my father, Koga of the Indigo Elite Four."

"Hmm?"

"W, What is it?"

"So aren't we going to talk about our fathers, young lady?"

Hearing such talk, the young girl felt excitement to deal with that conversation.

"Huh? Hmhm... There's no way you could win against me when we talked about that, young man!"

"Haha... So you're really at it, young lady?!"

"Just surrender already! There's no way your father's better than my father!"

"No... You're the one that should surrender, young lady. My father is really better than yours."

"You know, let's do this with a Pokemon Battle to finish this long argument that we have since we met back in the Celadon City Department Store and to reveal who's the better trainer, young man - my father or your father." [5]

"We can actually once we're outside of the airport, young lady."

"So do you really agree to that?!"

The young lady got closer to the young man in her excitement with her hands on his arms, making the latter feeling nervous.

"Y, Yes... If nothing else, let's settle that argument with that once we meet that trainer!"

"Whoever wins will be the one that will invite him to join the group for the upcoming tournament four months from now."

"Huh? Finally... But for now, even though we are still able to be awake for this nighttime, we should first find our stay-in, Poisonous Ninja Master Janine."

Janine snapped a bit hearing her name and her title from the blue-haired man who had given her a smile.

"Okay... The Elegant Master of Flying Pokemon Falkner... Beside you're the only one I knew here in the city."

As the blue-haired birdkeeper named Falkner and the purple-haired ninja girl named Janine, both wearing casual outfit fitting with their respective usual clothing as Gym Leaders of their respective Gyms, are continuing to have more bickering about their fathers, the two had finally stepped out of the establishment for their brief journey finding that certain trainer elsewhere that was reported last time to be in this city.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Few minutes later after Falkner and Janine had made out of the airport, a certain shoulder-length violet-haired young girl in a long sleeved lilac shirt and slim fit trousers and a certain black-haired young girl in a brown skirt, a long sleeved white shirt, and a blue cardigan that tied around her waist are also about to leave the airport as they are about to go to the city as well. These two are happily talking about a certain group called the Battle Frontier that was known in the four regions - the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh - where the violet-haired young girl is part of. Eventually, as they are finally out of the building, the violet-haired girl spoke for herself - as she put her right hand to her heart for a certain reason, much to the black-haired female companion's wonder.

"I'm finally here, Ash."

"W, What are you saying, Anabel?"

"Huh? I wanted to say things I never said before since my battle with him, Candice."

"Do you mean Ash?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure he will be getting our invitation. The city's really beautiful, by the way, Candice."

"Huh?... Yes, it is."

The violet-haired girl named Anabel, the Salon Maiden of the Hoenn/Kanto Battle Frontier, clearly lied to the black-haired girl named Candice, the Snowpoint City Gym Leader, as they are already seeing the vicinity of Lumiose City from where they are standing now.

* * *

 ** _Continue on: Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _**Part II**_

* * *

 _WRITER'S NOTE (as of 10/17/2016)_ :

 _As for Adam's Pikachu, the moves it had (aside from the Thunder move) came from moves the Cosplay Pikachu had (Icicle Crash for Pikachu Belle, Meteor Mash for Pikachu Rock Star and Electric Terrain for Pikachu, Ph.D.). For now:_

 _As for the Pokemon:_

 _Ace Trainer Ash  
_ Pikachu - None  
Type: Electric  
Ability: Static  
\- Thunderbolt (Electric; Special)  
\- Electro Ball (Electric; Special)  
\- Iron Tail (Steel; Physical)  
\- Quick Attack (Normal; Physical)

 _Aether Leader Adam  
_ Pikachu - a certain Z-Crystal for Pikachu  
Type: Electric  
Ability: Lightning Rod  
\- Meteor Mash (Steel; Physical)  
\- Icicle Crash (Ice; Physical)  
\- Electric Terrain (Electric; Status)  
\- Thunder (Electric; Special)  
Z-Move: Catastropika

 _Idol Serena  
_ Braixen - None  
Type: Fire  
Ability: Magician  
\- Flamethrower (Fire; Special)  
\- Fire Blast (Fire; Special)  
\- Psychic (Psychic; Special)  
\- Scratch (Normal; Physical)

 _Good day and have a happy reading._

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 22: Serena Becomes Ash! The Ultimate Pikachu Showdown!  
 **[2]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 44: Starting From Zero! Clemont's Decision!  
 **[3]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 45: One Last Battle With Ash! Serena's Choice!  
 **[4]** Pokemon XY Episode 59: Ash and Serena's First Date!? The Tree of Promises and the Presents!  
 **[5]** Nintendo DS Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver had Falkner and Janine bickering about having a better father.  
 **[6]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 28:The Winding Woods... The Dawn of Evolution!


	15. Inevitable Invitations II

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _**Part II**_

* * *

The date is May 16, 20XX.

At a certain room in a certain hotel containing two queen-sized beds and many other hotel-related furnitures was the orange-haired female Gym Leader of the Cerulean City, now in her own sea-themed sleeping outfit, still stayed awake for some reason despite the time on a certain wall clock within the room is 2:00 AM.

"I can't get used to this immediately, can I? I guess I should read some magazines here, unlike madam."

She then did what she had needed to do and read some of the articles in a certain familiar magazine called the 'Pokemon Journal', one of those articles tackled about the biographies of most of the Gym Leaders in the Kalos Region, like Wulfric of Snowbelle City and Olympia of Anistar City.

"So these people must be ones Ash had fought in this region, mustn't they? They seemed to be intimidating, even if I almost garnered a win against the recent Kalos League Conference Winner, Alan."

After a short peek at the magazine, she then looked at the brown-haired woman sleeping soundly at her own bed, as if nothing had happened to the woman two days ago. Doing so, she remembered some of the events that had happened on the past two days, feeling worried.

* * *

Two days ago (May 14, 20XX), in a certain afternoon at the Restaurant Rolling Dreamer, the most expensive restaurant in Lumiose City, and possibly, in the entire Kalos Region, the determined brown-haired woman, who was being aided by the two young ladies - one of which was the orange-haired young lady herself, proceeded to answer back to the raven-haired Aether Foundation member - the person Ash fought in a certain battlefield within the hospital he checked in - who was being accompanied by the long yellow-haired female member on one of the tables of the restaurant.

 _"Are you sure you're going to take care of my son, Sir Adam?"_

 _"Yes, whatever happens, it will be the responsibility of our organization to take care of our guests and clients whenever they're within our establishments. Otherwise, it's up to him to be safe outside of our establishments, Mrs. Delia."_

Feeling angry, the orange-haired young lady stood up and answered them back, much to the surprise of the others within the restaurant:

 _"W, What are you saying?! You're the one who will really be taking care of Ash, right?! Why are you saying those words now?!"_

After she shouted at Adam, silence had dominated within the entire restaurant. She then looked at everyone around her and felt embarrassed at she did just now as she sit back to her chair.

 _"I, I'm sorry... I wasn't able to stop doing this hearing those answers."_

 _"Misty... I know what you mean."_

The brown-haired woman then gently touched the worried Misty's shoulders. She have felt the same as her about this. But she's aware that they were in an expensive restaurant even if she's the mother of Ash.

The honey-haired young lady, on the other hand, only looked down throughout the conversation for some certain reasons. Said lady already decided to follow the advice of a certain producer to go to some of the regions found on the eastern parts of this world - specifically the regions Ash had already travelled previously like the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh - to participate for the Pokemon Contests in order to hone her skills as a Pokemon Performer. She eventually answered to the two:

 _"You should have known already about this city being attacked by the Team Flare, right?"_

 _"Yes, we're aware of that incident,"_ answered the yellow-haired young woman after sipping a certain cup of tea.

 _"Then... is the Alola Region safe from that danger?"_

 _"I cannot say that, young lady. There is a group of ruffians that caused a lot of trouble in our region. They steal other people's Pokemon, messed up some of the important festivals there and delight in all kinds of bad deeds."_

 _"She's right, young lady."_

 _"What group is that?"_

The honey-haired performer felt wondered asking such question. Adam responded quickly:

 _"That group is Team Skull."_

The three girls became cautious upon hearing the name of such villainous group. After all, this seemed to be no different from any other group that had caused harm to the region they based from, such as the Team Flare and their involvement in the recent incident. Feeling curious, Delia immediately asked the person who revealed this information.

 _"Why are they doing such bad deeds to your region?"_

 _"We do not know the reason, Mrs. Delia. Even if we saved the Pokemon they stole from respective trainers, we're still investigating about that without any answer."_

 _"I see..."_

 _"Worry not, Mrs. Delia. As long as your son arrived at the Aether Paradise, he will be guaranteed to be safe there."_

 _"As usual, that should mean he'll be going to travel the entire region again, shouldn't it?"_

Misty said such statement while feeling fearful about Ash's new journey, while not being fully aware of the other two companions' feelings though, especially Delia...

 _"Yes, Misty... I expected that from him, I hope... I hope this will not be the last time I'll see him... just like his father or his grandfather before him..."_

Delia is Ash's mother after all, indeed.

 _"Yes... I understand that, Mrs. Delia,"_ answered Adam while closing his eyes and looking down.

* * *

Misty felt clueless hearing those words from Ash's mother yesterday. She doesn't remember his mother telling her about his father throughout their conversations since she arrived at the Pallet Town a week ago to watch the recent Kalos League Conference. Neither Professor Oak nor his assistants, the newly appointed Viridian City Gym Leader Gary and the Pokemon watcher Tracey, are even talking about Ash's father as well.

She then realized even Ash himself never made conversations with just about everyone about his father, throughout their journey in the regions of Kanto, Orange and Johto. She also remembered that none of the pictures in Ash's home have Ash's father in it. Not that it bothered him at the slightest as Ash is focused too much on his travels and none on his worries about his father's whereabouts. But now, with Ash's mother being concerned too much about it, she can't helped but worried about it as well.

Speaking of Ash, she eventually remembered that she wanted to talk with him about it since that time with Delia and Serena. Yet, most of the tme, he's with the other friends and rivals who are still helping for the recovery of the city from the attack, such as Ash's rivals in the Kalos League, namely Sawyer, the green-haired trainer from Hoenn; Trevor, the orange-haired photographer from Lumiose City; and Tierno, the black-haired trainer from Santalune City; and one of Serena's rivals, Shauna, the brown-haired Pokemon Performer from Vaniville Town, talking about their experiences during the incident involving the Team Flare. Really, she doesn't have any opportunity to talk about it with him alone. [1]

* * *

The date is May 15, 20XX.

It was until several hours ago where she had the actual opportunity to talk about that matter as she entered the room. Unfortunately, on that time, No one stayed in his room. Since he cannot able to get out of the hospital until this morning, she thought he'll be elsewhere within the hospital. Few minutes later, she eventually found him sitting on a certain bench on the quadrangle where she fought and almost won against Alan two days ago - said battle has her only losing due to a grab done by his Charizard to her Golduck which was then followed by striking its lightning fists to the duck's upper body, as far as she can remember - and then hurriedly went to see him. And yet, as she arrived at the corridor near the quadrangle, she then eventually witnessed a battle between him and his Pikachu and the honey-haired female companion named Serena and her Braixen.

For some reason, she observed no one lost in that match as Pikachu and Braixen ended up not being injured that much and then saw the two friends going to each other at the center of the battlefield - as well as Ash eventually putting his right hand on Serena's right hand that was placed on the latter's heart, much to Misty's upset. After all, Misty never saw Ash to do that to anyone - other than Pikachu and his Pokemon, that is - ever since she joined him on his first day of his journey at the forest near his hometown until she parted ways due to unexpected circumstances.

Moreover...

 _"Most importantly, don't reflect too much upon yourself, Ash!"_

 _"H, Huh?!"_

 _"That all I can do for now. You still have a lot of goals to have reach for! If you have time to worry about something so silly, why don't you try as hard as possible to reach all of the goals you're striving for?!"_

 _"B, But you knew what am I saying, Serena-"_

 _"We're just like what we were before in Snowbelle City. Do you remember, Ash?"_ [2]

 _"We're just like... Huh? I, I understand..."_

As soon as Misty heard that conversation between Ash and Serena, she cannot helped herself but run away from it and rolled some tears from her eyes about it for some certain reason.

A hurtful reality for Misty, it seems.

If it wasn't for that unexpected circumstance regarding to his status as the Gym Leader of Cerulean City, she could have traveled with him in Hoenn and possibly, in the following regions she haven't reached. [3]

Also, Misty eventually thought, for a young lady who will eventually part ways with Ash to pursue her goals as a Pokemon Performer, Serena can even manage him better when it comes to his personality, more than she can do when they traveled together in three regions. After all, Serena has been Ash's guardian prior to her and his mother's arrival to the hospital. That's even with the fact that Ash had accepted a proposal for a friendly date with a certain white-haired lady of their age two days ago, much to her shock at that time. During her short time with Ash, Brock, May and Max in two instances after her decision to become a Gym Leader, Misty knew that he served May as his student when it comes to concerns about Pokemon, despite the differences in their careers. [4]

Misty eventually reached the main entrance of the hospital after running that fast, far away from the quadrangle. Exhausted, she then stopped running and put her hand on her heart, feeling gloomy. After all, she's been worried for him just like his mother do as well.

As far as Ash's mother revealed her on that time that girl's in Pallet Town, those two had known each other very well since their youth, it seems.

* * *

And then...

"Gorudaku?"

A certain bipedal duck voluntarily summoned out from its Pokeball from Misty's bed, much to her surprise. It seemed Golduck sensing something to worry about from Misty. After all, it was once her Psyduck way back then since their first meeting.

"Wahh... What are you doing here, Golduck?!"

"Goru...?!"

"G, Get back to your Pokeball, Golduck. Even if you've got changed a lot, and almost win the battle against Alan, you're still the same Psyduck I knew!"

As she looked back at a certain clock in a certain wall of the room she saw its time to be 2:15 AM already, and yet, Misty still cannot sleep on her bed and decided to speak within herself once again.

"They are childhood friends after all, I guess. So it's natural for them to do that. But... Was Serena the reason for his big change? Ash might have changed himself when I met him briefly back in Hoenn, but this change..."

She's about to cry while she thinking about it. After all, her feelings for him left unchanged after all this time - in that Ash is _her burden_ ever since the two of them traveled together, something that she realized while having back-and-forth with a certain someone named Melody in a certain island shrine back in the Orange Archipelago [5]. However, she eventually changed herself to become hopeful for some reason. After all, she also came in with his mother out of her worries.

"Anyway, I can just ask either him or Serena about it. Besides, Ash is quite an oblivious guy when it comes to romantic stuff, isn't he?"

 _Or is he that aware of it from her now?_

"Huh? It can't be helped. I guess I should take a walk around the hotel for now since I can't even sleep with this."

Feeling not sleepy as well as worried about this, Misty then stood up from the bed and decided to go out of her room for a walk.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

As she stepped out of the room, She heard two familiar voices - a male one and a female one.

"So, we're really going to stay in one room, Janine?"

"It can't be helped, Falkner since we decided to do this to make sure our pocket money cannot easily be emptied."

"Just to make sure we could not make arguments about having a better father, huh?"

"I know, I know... Let's go..."

But most importantly, their names, Falkner and Janine, are a familiar thing to her. With that, she eventually ran towards the sources of those voices.

In a corridor near to Misty's room, she eventually met two certain familiar people there as she pointed her hand to them...

"Falkner of Violet City Gym and Janine of Fuschia City Gym! What are you doing here?!"

""Huh?""

As a certain annoyed blue-haired young man named Falkner was about to put a certain card on the sensor of his and an excited certain purple-haired young lady's room, the two of them looked at the source of the voice who called their names. And then, the purple-haired young lady named Janine then pointed to her as well while both of them felt surprised seeing her as Misty came to go to the two people who are about to enter their room

"Ah! Cerulean City Gym's Misty! We are here to visit a certain person to join either one of our group and this young man's group."

"Huh?"

Misty felt clearly confused about their appearances in this region, especially since she felt she knew they do not have any connection to anyone here. Eventually, as she came near to them, Janine answered Misty's doubts.

"You did not know? This is about the upcoming international tournament that will be held in the two regions four months from now, including our own Kanto Region."

"An international tournament that will be held on Kanto Region too? What was that?"

"You have clearly forgotten, Misty," said the purple-haired lady feeling wondered about Misty's behavior, "anyway, why are you here then?"

"Huh? Me? I'm here to visit my friend here, along with his mother, who had been worried for him since the incident in this region," answered the orange-haired young lady while seemingly thinking about something, then smiled.

"A _friend_? Who is he?"

"Well..."

Misty immediately remembered what happened back at the quadrangle of the hospital where her old friend was checked in, making her feeling gloomy once again.

Misty thought, _a friend, huh?_

"Hmhm..."

As Janine eventually felt interested, Falkner immediately stopped her from doing anything else, making Misty to feel relieved. He added while scratching his head:

"Anyway, let's enter to our room. We should talk about it inside..."

The three are about to enter Falkner and Janine's room by its only door as Misty eventually looked elsewhere at a certain corridor near them - where she saw two certain girls that are entering a certain room near theirs as well. One of them, the violet-haired girl, is someone Misty is quite familiar with. After all, said girl Misty knew is a member of the Hoenn/Kanto Battle Frontier, Salon Maiden Anabel.

Misty thought, _What is she doing here? Is she on the same page as Falkner and Janine?_

Janine, who was now entering the room first, noticed her immediately and asked, "what is it, Misty?"

"N, Nothing, Janine. I'm just thinking about some things really," said Misty while giving her a concerned smile.

After that, all of them were now inside the room as Falkner closed the door as well.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

The time on a certain wall clock within Falkner's and Janine's hotel room was shown as 2:25 AM. As soon as the three eventually entered the hotel room, Janine eventually ran inside in pleasure, much to Falkner's worry.

"Wow! So this is a hotel room in the Kalos Region looked like! This feels luxurious!"

"Yes, this region feels a lot different compared to ours, from this region's food to the Pokemon."

"There are really two queen-sized beds here, like that person in the first floor had said. That's some change of pace for me! I'll try this!"

The purple-haired lady excitedly jumped to one of the beds, much to the others' surprise. As she landed to such bed happily:

"Waaa! This is really different from the ones I used to in my home. I might have feel asleep to this too!"

Janine excitedly said such words while lying on that large bed, making Misty feeling impressed for her co-Gym Leader of Kanto, while Falkner was looking at the scenery through the glass doors, feeling interested.

"I'm glad that you like the bed, Janine."

"Yes! Anyway, you cannot sleep too, Misty?"

"Yeah. Well, that's what happened to me when I got here too. Unlike my friend's mother, I haven't adjusted that much since our arrival in this region two days ago."

"Oh... So who's your friend here by the way?"

"My friend's Ash."

Upon hearing the name of Misty's friend, Falkner flinched a bit before proceeding to look and ask the orange-haired young lady about such person.

"Hmm, Ash... Do you mean Ash who joined the Johto League Silver Conference Victory Tournament few years ago?"

"Yes, Falkner. You had fought him once too, I remember."

"Oh, I remember that. I was a jerk to him back then. After all, I always wanted to prove that Flying-type Pokemon will not always lose to Electric-type ones like his Pikachu." [6]

"But you should already know that there are some Flying-type Pokemon that aren't weak to Electric-type ones. Gligar, Gliscor and the legendary Pokemon Landorus, being part Ground-type themselves are immune to it, as well as some others whose typing effectively would remove their weaknesses."

"Yeah... I know about those, Misty. That's what I am in the past anyway. Actually, I'm now here proving that my Flying-type Pokemon can overcome any of their weakness. After all, they're also weak to Ice-types and Rock-types too. Me too can adapt as well."

As the conversation between Misty and Falkner about a certain raven-haired trainer continued, the purple-haired lady, feeling happy while lying down on the bed, then looked at certain magazines that was found on the table near her. Eventually, she entered the conversation as well hearing about that certain raven-haired trainer with interest on her face.

"Haa! So, you really know him too, Falkner."

"Yeah, but I only met him once few years ago. I didn't know much about him. You could probably asked Misty more about him," said Falkner as he thought of something while looking at the reconstructed landmarks outside of the city.

"Hm," thought Janine as she eventually looked at the orange-haired Cerulean City Gym Leader with a concerned smile, "so where do we find him, Misty?"

"Huh? I don't understand, Janine. What do you mean?"

"Do you remember that I told you about an international tournament just now? I hope you didn't forget about it."

"International tournament?"

Because of that, Misty had eventually made thoughts in order to remember something she might have forgotten. After some time:

"Do you mean the Pokemon World Tournament?!"

"Yes. We need him in our team."

"What team? Do you mean our Team Kanto?!"

"Yes. This was an order from the Indigo League of our region after all. Me, you and Ash, along with the others from our homeland, should be right to be part of the Team Kanto."

Upon hearing such words from Janine, Falkner eventually felt unease and answered Janine back in annoyance.

"No way, young girl. He will be better with us, Team Johto! That's an order from the Silver League of the Johto Region!"

"Huh? So what's your claim with that, young man?!"

"We promised to have a Pokemon battle in front of Ash and whoever the winner of that battle will be the one that invite Ash to that team," explained Falkner while crossing his arms.

"Fair enough," said Janine after giving off a sigh, "we concerted for that in the airport anyway."

"A Pokemon battle in front of Ash? Isn't that weird, Janine, Falkner?"

Misty gave off a weakly laugh after she said such words to them, in which Janine actively answered:

"Of course! This is a battle between trainers that wanted to prove that one has a better father than the other!"

"So that's really the point, young girl."

"Isn't that obvious?! We need to settle down with that!"

The purple-haired lady then aimed her attention from the annoyed Falkner to the curious Misty with a sigh and calmly said, much to Falkner's disbelief.

"Anyway, where is that trainer?"

"Hey! What was that, young lady?!"

"Well, he is currently confined in one of the hospitals in this city, because of the incident with Team Flare in this city. But don't worry, he will be guaranteed to be discharged tomorrow, guys."

Perceiving such thoughts from Misty, Falkner felt interested about it.

"Team Flare, huh? So that group must have been the ones that attacked this region, right?"

"Yes, Ash and his friends told me about the events. In fact, they are the ones who opposed them."

"Really? They are truly heroes with their acts," said Falkner feeling impressed to those so-called heroes.

"No, that was really Ash's act of heroism that convinced others to help him against that group. After all, the evil group tried to destroy our world to creating a perfect world for those villains."

Falkner and Janine felt surprised with this fact coming from their acquaintance. Janine immediately responded, in which Falkner eventually followed.

"Perfect world? I believe such world never exist, especially with our ways of living. What do you think, young man?"

"Those people can dream for such world. Yet, such is an ideal that would never reach no matter what. Being a part-time police official, such crimes are beyond normal."

"So, this is the first time you agreed with me, young man, isn't it?"

"It can't be helped that I do really agree with that."

"But because of that, he is truly fitting to join Team Kanto."

"Huh? He actually fit more to our team, Team Johto."

While the purple-haired Fuschia City Gym Leader and the blue-haired Violet City Gym Leader continued their own conversation about their bicker about making that certain raven-haired Pokemon trainer to join either Team Kanto or Team Johto, Misty looked down feeling worried and thought she should really have been followed Ash like Brock until Sinnoh Region instead of going for that decision of leaving him after the Silver Conference. But the decision is especially crucial for the Gym she resided in. However, because of the upcoming Pokemon World Tournament four months from now, she will be able to rejoin him and will probably talking about many things they haven't talked for a long while, especially since there are a lot of things Ash had never told her that some, especially his mother and his friends, might already knew.

Eventually, the Elegant Master of Flying Pokemon and the Poisonous Ninja Mistress noticed the orange-haired Cerulean City Gym Leader feeling down about something. Janine eventually called her out while waving her hand near Misty's face.

"Hi! Tomboyish Mermaid..."

"Huh?"

"Are you worried about something? Is Ash better to be part of our team or of Falkner's team? What do you think?"

Misty felt surprised hearing this, but eventually answered loudly after thinking about the consequences of her decisions, something that made Janine felt excited.

"That's obvious! Ash's better to be part of Team Kanto!"

"Of course, Misty... He would be really better on our team!"

Falkner only sighed from it and then eventually asked the worried Misty once again, "so... where do we see him now tomorrow, Misty?"

"Well... He will be probably go to the house resided by the family of two of his current companions."

"Then we should immediately go there then."

"Yes, I think. Huh?"

""What is it, Misty?""

"N, Nothing, Falkner, Janine. I just remembered something else! That's all!"

Misty eventually realized something while thinking about the opportunities of having some long conversations with Ash, especially there was a certain white-haired young lady named Katherine that eventually invited Ash for a friendly date. She felt some realization...

 _Ash isn't as oblivious as I thought, is he? I hope he is. He only focused on Pokemon battles, after all._

Misty then answered her acquaintances confidently, something that surprised the latter two.

"You two will going to meet him this morning regardless of circumstances! I promise!"

"Sure!"

"But what circumstances, Misty?"

Janine responded with excitement, while Falkner eventually asked about the reason behind her statement, in which Misty immediately answered.

"Well... He might be busy for many things tomorrow, guys. This would be quite a long ride that we need some little sleep, I guess."

The time on a certain wall clock of the room is now 2:50 AM.

Several hours later, things might be changed for Ash, for better or worse.

* * *

 _ **Continue on:**_ ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _ **Part III**_

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

 _In case you were wondering about why Misty and the others are still awake even if it is somewhere between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM, while feeling sleepy in the afternoon in one of the previous chapters, this is because I'm assuming that my own version of the Pokemon world will be loosely based on the real world. That means anyone who came from the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh (whose maps are based from real-life Japan) might get trouble from the changes in time zones once he/she got to either Unova (based from New York in United States) or Kalos (based from France), causing jet lag to him/her. This will be quite an important thing to note once a certain group who will be returning to Kanto Region might get this case again._

* * *

REFERENCES:

 **[1]** Shauna, Tierno, Trevor and Sawyer will be appearing in future chapters, unlike in the anime where their last appearances for XY series are in Pokemon XYZ Episode 45.  
 **[2]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 28:The Winding Woods... The Dawn of Evolution!  
 **[3]** Pokemon OS Episode 273: Goodbye... And Then, Setting Off!  
 **[4]** Pokemon AG Episode 44 - Pokemon AG Episode 45 and Pokemon AG Episode 132 - Pokemon AG Episode 134  
 **[5]** Pokemon Movie 2: Revelation Lugia  
 **[6]** Pokemon OS Episode 131: Violet Gym! Sky Battle!


	16. Inevitable Invitations III

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _ **Part III**_

* * *

 _"Do you have time, Miss Delia?"_

 _"Huh? What do you mean, mister...?"_

 _"You know... Going out with me?"_

 _"Eh?"_

 _"Don't worry... I'll take care of your son... No, our son!"_

 _"W, What?!"_

There was a short pause as a certain raven-haired young child slowly came to a certain surprised woman in her early twenties and hugged her tightly on her knees. The young boy answered...

 _"Mama, that's...!"_

... before the woman the child called Mama immediately interrupted him and then talked to a certain man.

 _"No, my son... No matter what happens, I'll be the one who will be take care of him. After all, he is his son too, mister."_

 _"Do you mean? Do you still love him even if...?"_

 _"STOP!"_

 _"Even if he...?!"_

 _"STOP!"_

 _"He abandoned you and our son?!"_

 _"PLEASE STOP!"_

Hearing the word _our son_ from that certain man made the woman feeling extremely angry... and sad at the same time, as she then started to shed tears, crying in front of her child, who felt shocked hearing his mother's reply to the man.

 _"M, Mama?"_

 _"I see... I hope he will be coming back, Miss Delia. I only hoped..."_

 _"I, I know. I, I still believe he will be coming back... to see his son g, growing up... and thank you, mister."_

Following such words from the woman named Delia, the man slowly went to the child and told him:

 _"Take care of your mother, Ash?"_

 _"Huh? Yes... I always do that for mama!"_

Hearing such reply from the child, the man immediately left a certain room they stayed and closed the door he exited, making the crying woman and the innocent child remained within it. Such room is filled with pictures of various people and Pokemon. Eventually, after some time, the young child spoke curiously...

 _"Mama? That's the tenth man who came in to..."_

 _"Huh? Did you really count those people, my son?"_

 _"Yeah, mama... I counted them with my hands!"_

 _"Why do you do that, my son?"_

 _"Mama loves Papa, right?! No other man should love my Mama other than me and my Papa! R, Right?!"_

The woman felt shocked listening to the words of an innocent child... An innocent child who was crying finding answers about such matter.

Such innocent cries made the mother hugged tightly the child. Perhaps, she knew the child's already aware of a certain situation and then answered him thoughtfully.

 _"He'll come back, my son. I'm assured of that..."_ [1]

* * *

"Mama?!"

The raven-haired patient of a certain hospital room eventually opened his eyes in shock as he said those words. Such hospital room was still in darkness. After all, the time on a certain wall clock in the room is currently set at 4:11 AM.

"Huh? W, What happened?"

Having such dreams made him feeling worried for some reason as he sit up in the bed very slowly since there was a certain honey-haired guardian and a little yellow rodent who were sleeping beside him, with the guardian had her head and her arms on a certain pillow on the bed.

He thought as he then put his right hand on his head, feeling worried...

 _Don't tell me... Such memories of my past that I should have forgotten will return to haunt me. I hope this would be the last one. After all..._

The patient then looked at his guardian and remembered some of her words.

 _"Don't reflect too much upon yourself, Ash!"_

"I will be doing that... I should be doing that..."

* * *

The date is May 16, 20XX.

The time on a certain post clock in a nearby entrance of the Lumiose City General Hospital is 9:00 AM.

"Ah! This is it! I can finally see able to see the view outside of the hospital! I can also able to see Greninja too!"

"Congratulations, my dear son. Just be careful and don't do anything strenuous for your current health, huh?"

"Mom... Yes, I will follow everyone's advice here."

The next morning, four people - two are women in their early thirties and the other two are a raven-haired male teen raising his arms high in excitement with a Pikachu on his right shoulder and a honey-haired female teen who giggled at the act of the male teen, with all but the male teen have backpacks - are standing in front of the main entrance of the Lumiose City General Hospital, waiting for certain people. However, the male teen eventually felt worried about something, that the mahogany-haired woman immediately noticed once again. After all, the moment he finally got out of the hospital

"But neither Clemont and Bonnie nor Alan and Professor Sycamore come to the hospital. Even Misty too."

"Well, in Misty's case, she's still not used to this place. So, right now, she's still on her bed. That's for sure."

"So she's still affected by jet lag, Mom. I remember that time that we've come in the Unova Region, even if I felt excitement to come in the region seeing many Pokemon, the long flight there made me really tired that I could even have a long sleep after worrying about Pikachu's power reset."

After Pikachu nodded in agreement to its trainer, both the honey-haired young lady and her brown-haired mother felt surprised about such event to said Pikachu. The young lady worriedly said:

"Pikachu's power reset? What do you mean? You didn't even tell me about that during our journey together."

"That's a long story to tell, Serena. But the most important part there is that I told you that we encountered the Deep Black Pokemon, Zekrom, in that region when we've arrived there," said Ash while his mother nodded in agreement to Ash's statement.

"I know about that, Ash- Huh?"

After saying such words, Serena then looked at Ash who still gave her a confident smile to everyone around him, including her. Looking at his eyes made Serena to look down and think while holding the blue ribbon on her heart, remembering a certain event involving the two of them yesterday. After all, after that event, both of them didn't talk to one another until just now.

After sighing, she then asked him, much to the surprise of her mother, as well as Ash who clearly heard what she says.

"Are your decisions final, Ash?"

"Huh? What do you mean, Serena?"

Ash clearly knew what she asked despite the act of scratching his head. Even so, Serena felt slightly mad at his act. However, Ash immediately tried to relieve her from her feelings as he said.

"Wait. I didn't mean to get you mad, Serena."

"I'm not mad... By the way, are you now ready for your date, Ash?"

"W, What are you saying, Serena?"

With that and their conversation continued, her clueless mother, Grace, then asked Ash's mother, Delia, about something.

"What had happened yesterday, Mrs. Delia?"

Hearing such thought from Grace, Grace then confidently answered after thinking of something.

"My son's in the middle of a crossroad now, seeking for answers about certain question. That's all I can say, Mrs. Grace."

"Huh? That's the first time I've heard that from you."

"Yes. After all, my son was travelling in the same path as his father and his grandfather for quite a long time now, right?"

Ash flinched a bit as he heard such words from his mother. However, he then proceeded to talk to Serena.

While Ash and Serena, along with Ash's Pikachu, are now happily talking about certain plans for today including meeting Greninja in the Pokemon Center, feeling surprised, Grace then remembered the time she and her daughter came to the Pallet Town for the Pokemon Summer Camp led by Professor Oak and immediately realized.

"Do you mean... the path of the Pokemon Master? The path your son feeling excited the most?"

"Yeah," answered Delia with such great concern on her eyes towards her son, "he's..."

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"Wait!"

Such shout from someone else near them made their conversations taking halts as the four of them and the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder looked at that certain someone.

Said person was a bearded brown-haired man in his late thirties running towards the four. As such person finally stopped running as he's already with them feeling exhausted, Grace asked him about something, followed by her curious daughter.

"W, What is it, Mr. Meyer? Is there any problem?"

"My mom's right... And where are Clemont and Bonnie?"

After the honey-haired lady asked such question, the exhausted Meyer quickly extended his right arm horizontally, with palm facing forward, much to the curiosity of the four. Then, after taking a deep breath, Meyer said loudly feeling worried:

"There's a bad news at my son's Gym!"

The two mothers, the two teens and a Pikachu felt shocked upon hearing that statement. Ash immediately asked:

"What was it, Mr. Meyer?!"

"Well, there's a surprised Gym inspection today."

Hearing Meyer's words, Delia asked him curiously this time.

"Then, what's wrong with the inspection?"

"Well..."

* * *

The time on a digital clock within the Lumiose City Gym is 9:20 AM.

As the five of them hurriedly arrived inside the Lumiose City Gym, much to their surprise, the battlefield used for Pokemon battles involving getting a certain reward from a certain Gym Leader is now an icy field.

"An inspection that turned into a battle, huh?"

Meyer commented about the current status of the inspection. Upon seeing the icy battlefield, Serena immediately told Ash while remembering something on her mind.

"Did this battlefield reminded you of something, Ash?"

Recalling for some thoughts on his mind for a very short while, Ash immediately answered her question with worry and confidence at the same time.

"Yeah... Such battlefield is similar to those from Wulfric's [2] and Viola's [3]. Yes, I clearly remembered those-," answered Ash before he looked closely on the fight and realized something, "what was going on?!"

Following Ash, Meyer widened his eyes as he saw the full picture about the battle and said slowly to the others with him.

"So... my son's fighting against a legendary Pokemon..."

Hearing such words from Ash and Meyer and seeing Delia and her mother now feeling shocked as well, Serena confusingly asked...

"A legendary Pokemon?"

... before looking at a certain pink-haired trainer in a black suit's Pokemon and Serena felt shocked afterwards.

"A Latias owned by Miss Joy?!" [4]

"Yeah, she revealed herself to be a medical worker once in Saffron City in the Kanto Region," explained Meyer as he shrugged his shoulders thinking about it, "did you know about this, Ash, Mrs. Delia?"

"Not really, sir," said Ash as he then quickly remembered some of the events of the past that had something to do similar to certain trainer owning such powerful legendary Pokemon.

There was Tobias, a Pokemon trainer who owned a Darkrai and a Latios and had won the Lily of the Valley Conference of the Sinnoh Region as the winner, whereas Ash is a Top 4 participant. [5]

There were also the Kanto Region's Battle Frontier's Factory Head Noland [6] and Pyramid King Brandon [7] whom Ash had fought to win the Battle Frontier. Noland owned an Articuno while Brandon owned the Legendary Titans of Hoenn: Regice, Registeel and Regirock. Also, Ash had once offered to become a Frontier Brain himself by Brandon, but he declined such offer.

Ash then added as he looked at the others, much to the other's surprise.

"Somehow, I would probably get used to this surprise now."

 ** _Clemont's Luxray VS Miss Joy's Latias_**

A certain battle between the lemon-haired young inventor's exhausted Gleam Eyes Pokemon and Joy's Eon Pokemon in an icy battlefield continued, with Citroid as the battle's referee. Hurriedly reaching the spectators' seats, Meyer and the others then saw four certain people - Meyer's daughter Bonnie (and her brother's Dedenne), Shalour City Gym Leader Korrina (and her Lucario), the rookie trainer Mairin (and her Chespie) and Professor Sycamore's assistant Alan (and his Charizard) - sitting and witnessing the fight with eagerness on their faces.

"Let's go with them," said Meyer to Ash and the others, who nodded to him in return.

As Meyer and the others are running towards Bonnie's group, the levitating Eon Pokemon, following a certain command from her trainer, Joy, proceeded to create a ball of compressed mist in front of her and fired such ball towards the Gleam Eyes Pokemon that charged forward with powerful electricity covering its body and left trails of scattered electricity on its trail, despite the slippery field. The ball of mist successfully hit the lion-like Pokemon but such attack doesn't stop the latter from charging towards her, resulting to the lightning attack hitting the bird-like dragon Pokemon with such force, and said dragon Pokemon pushed back by force.

However, after regaining composure while being near, Latias followed her trainer's order and expanded a light green energy field from her body. As the field expands, it removes all damage inflicted on Latias' body. After the healing is completed, the field disappears around Latias, leaving no wound on her. With that, the spectators felt surprised to see Joy's Latias gaining the upper hand now that Clemont's Luxray felt completely exhausted due to the recoil on using such lightning move. From Bonnie's side, Alan and Mairin spoke worriedly.

"Professor Sycamore told me about one of Nurse Joy resided in this region who can able to evolve her Audino into a mega-evolution form [8]... But to think Miss Joy here can able to take care of a legendary Pokemon... She's a good trainer for a nurse, especially she came from the Kanto Region. If only Professor didn't leave elsewhere along with Miss Alexa though." [9]

"Bonnie, How would your brother overcome this difficult battle?"

"I don't know," said worried Bonnie while watching such battle. She eventually regained some confidence as she answered once again, "but I know my brother will have a way to get out of this. All of us here personally wanted to congratulate Ash for his recovery."

"I myself too, Bonnie. This surprise Gym inspection made me feel nervous too. After all, this Gym was all broke due to the incident. I hope Clemont and his robot substitute Gym Leader will be fine," said Korrina feeling worried about the upcoming decision from the inspector Joy, "I'm pretty we're up next to her, Lucario."

"You can do it, big brother!"

Hearing such motivational shout from such supportive younger sister as well as his Dedenne, Clemont, despite the difficulties he faced in front of him, didn't let the pressure took over him as he continued to fight for the sake of the Gym. He then returned to command his Luxray.

Following Clemont's orders, Luxray proceeded to jump into the air and to have its tail glowing bright. It then swings its tail, releasing multiple star-like with golden sparkles around them from its tail at the opposing levitating Latias, who also proceeded to fire a multicolored dragon-shaped beam of energy from it at the Luxray as a counterattack, following Joy's command. Both attacks collided at one another with such impact. However, Latias' attack got the upper-handed as it broke through the summoned stars of the Gleam Eyes Pokemon. Eventually, such draconic beam successfully hit the falling Luxray, hurting the black lion in the process.

As Luxray was about to land on the icy ground while feeling hurt from the recent attack, it immediately roared throughout the battlefield as it released multiple bolts of manipulated electricity from its body, causing its body and the surrounding area to glow bright, powering up Electric-type moves. Not only that, the icy field had started to melt due to the wasted heat released by the electricity used by Luxray in empowering two of its moves. This also made Luxray getting to run faster than before.

While Luxray did so, the Eon Pokemon immediately fired another ball of compressed mist to the Gleam Eyes Pokemon. While the ball of mist doesn't hurt the black lion that much, Clemont felt worried about the result of this. After all, he witnessed an azure aura shooting downwards around still-sliding Luxray - an indication of a temporary drop on the black lion's special power due to the effect of the sphere of compressed mist fired at the lion.

As the battle between Luxray and Latias continued and Luxray, now getting used to the icy ground, immediately had its teeth charged with electricity and proceeded to jump higher towards Latias that fired another draconic beam back to the Luxray.

"Bonnie!"

Hearing such shout of a certain female person, Bonnie's group looked at the direction of the source of such voice. Doing so, they saw Bonnie's father and the others hurriedly coming to them. As Meyer and the others came near to his daughter's group, Meyer immediately hugged tightly the incoming father before he proceeded to say something.

"What's happening here? Why are Clemont and Joy battled one another?"

"It seemed Miss Joy wanted to test the resolve of Clemont. After all, when it comes to Pokemon battles, not only the Pokemon trainer who should take the Gym Leader seriously, but also the Gym Leader himself too," answered Korrina as everyone in the spectators' area saw Luxray successfully bit off Latias' right wing with the bite being induced with electricity - an electricity that will caused Latias to be paralyzed afterwards, much to the relief of anyone else.

Meyer then proceeded to ask another question to the lemon-haired young lady.

"So you're speaking about your experiences being a Gym Leader, right, Korrina?"

"Yes, I am. I traveled with them too for a short while, sir," answered Korrina as she gave the others genuine smile. Such words made Ash, Serena and Bonnie nodded to her as well. [10]

"So the two of you do too, Ash, Serena. All right! Everyone, cheer up for Clemont!"

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"Luxray, go for another Swift!"

The battle for the true resumption for Clemont's status as a Gym Leader continued as he bravely commanded his already-exhausted black lion to summon many medium-sized glowing star-like objects aiming for the opposing Eon Pokemon. Such attack eventually hit the avian-like dragon. However...

"Latias, you know what to do. Recover."

The dragon once again covered herself in a green transparent aura, an indication that Latias used her recovery move, making the battle made more difficult for Clemont. Even so, the lemon-haired young inventor felt some hope that he will be winning this battle with Latias being paralyzed due to a certain lightning fang move's effect, especially as he looked at the spectators' area, where he saw his friends, as well as his father, cheering for him. Much to his shock, he saw his friend Ash, who had just discharged from a certain hospital, fully cheering for him. With his smile returned, he regained his confidence once again.

"For a certain procedure to follow, I must really faced this first, right, guys? Even so, I fully thanked them for the support you gave to me... Here it goes! Luxray, finish Latias with Wild Charge! "

"Latias! Dodge the attack and grab Luxray with your arms!"

With that, Latias successfully dodged the incoming lightning charge and once the black lion slowly decelerated, the female avian dragon immediately heavily grabbed the black lion's body, much to the latter's shock. Joy continued with her all might:

"Latias! Finish this with your Ice Beam! Now!"

Much to everyone else's surprise, despite the paralysis inflicted to her body, the avian-like dragon successfully proceeded to fire multiple beams of ice at point blank range to her opponent who was still felt hurt due to Latias grabbing its body. Due to the beams's sheer coldness, the black lion's body almost got frozen in addition to being hurt by the sudden grab by the dragon.

With that, as the dragon released down the black lion towards the already wet ground, the latter was already fainted by the cold inflicted by the multiple beams of ice. And therefore, Citroid announced.

"Luxray cannot able to battle. The winner of this battle is Latias and thus, the winner of this match is the Gym Inspector, Joy!"

"I'm sorry, everyone. I didn't expect this to happen."

Hearing such words from his greatest invention, Clemont went down to his hands and knees thinking to himself that his loss will cause the Gym to be closed down, which made anyone else who cheered for him felt sad as well due to the possible fate of Lumiose City Gym. Anyone else aside from Joy then decided to run towards the battlefield.

"Thanks for the aid, Latias. you really did well in this battle. You should have take a long rest, my friend," said Joy while she hugged gently her now-happy Eon Pokemon nodding at her trainer, before both of them went for the others, as well as Citroid, who came for the defeated Clemont and Luxray.

Everyone then went for Clemont, revealing their worries on him and his Luxray. Among the others, Meyer, Bonnie, Ash and Serena immediately asked the inventor in worry, with the first two feeling worried the worst for the inventor.

"Are you alright, my son?!"

"Big brother..."

""Clemont...""

"Yeah, I do, Bonnie, Ash. I did my best in this battle, right?" Clemont answered his friend's question with tears flowing from his eyes, something that not only Ash (regardless of his interest in battling such competent trainer like Joy) who agreed in this, but also his sister Bonnie, who eventually hugged him tightly and cried along with his Dedenne, and another former companion Serena nodded.

Also, seeing the defeated Luxray, Alan summoned out his Bisharp and immediately ordered the Sword Blade Pokemon to carry Luxray to the Pokemon Center so that they can heal Luxray there.

Anyone really felt sad about this. However...

"You and your Luxray really did well in this battle, Clemont. I and Latias are really impressed with those kinds of fights, right, Latias?"

The relieved Joy revealed these words to the saddened Clemont, who was then took a look at her and her Latias' satisfied expressions. Everyone else felt shocked hearing this, regardless of the outcome of the battle. She added with a concerned smile:

"With that, I will be reporting a good review for the status so you can expect that this Gym will keep running, Clemont. Just don't do such actions without any Gym Inspector's notice."

Hearing such words, Clemont slowly replaced his worried expression to a surprised one as he spoke:

"So that means...?"

Removing the tears flowing from his eyes, Clemont then take a look at the others who supported him in the battle. All of them are smiling at him, which made him to take a deep breath and smiled back at them as well. Citroid, Meyer and Bonnie simultaneously greeted him back as well:

"Congratulations, my son!"

"Congratulations, big brother!"

"Congratulations, master!"

Because of that, everyone then laughed happily at the results as well as the greetings of his closest family members.

Eventually, after some time of laughing, a curious Clemont then came and asked Miss Joy, who was still caring for her Latias, about something:

"I supposed Gym Inspectors tested the leaders to ensure they will present a decent challenge to trainers, and have the power the revoke the right to give out badges or even shut down the Gym completely, right, Miss Joy?"

"Yes, that's the duty of a Gym Inspector."

"But why did you decide to challenge all of the Gym Leaders in the Kalos Region, like what you had told with Korrina as well?"

"Pokemon World Tournament..."

The words from Miss Joy called the attention of everyone around her, especially Ash who eventually felt shocked hearing such words.

* * *

The time on a wristwatch of a certain raven-haired man is 5:30 PM.

On that time, a certain raven-haired man, Adam, and his yellow-haired female companion, Lusamine, silently arrived at a certain cemetery and then immediately visited one of the certain graves of the place. Notably, no one's around on that time other than the two of them.

Eventually, much to the surprise of the yellow-haired female companion, the raven-haired man kneeled down on his knees and prayed in front of such simple grave.

After some time of praying, the man then slowly stood up as the yellow-haired lady asked him:

"So, you're really doing it, Sir Adam?"

The man didn't answered her back. Instead the man decided to leave the place after hearing her words.

Without any reply from the man who was about to leave her behind, she had no choice but to follow suit silently.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Some time after the raven-haired man and the yellow-haired lady left the cemetery, a certain old man in laboratory coat and a certain brown-haired young man had passed them bringing some flowers along the way as they are about to head to the cemetery. These two are talking about a certain person: Pallet Oak.

Upon hearing the conversation from those two, the raven-haired man flinched a bit and stopped to think about something. Lusamine asked:

"Is there any problem, Sir Adam?"

"N, Nothing. I'm just thinking about the plans for our organization. That's all."

Lusamine didn't ask anything else as they immediately left the road, as the old man then looked at the sight of a certain raven-haired man, feeling eager about it. The brown-haired young man asked:

"What is it, gramps?"

"N, Nothing, my grandson. I'm only wondering about the new Pokemon discovered in all other places. That's all."

* * *

Ash, who had brought a certain excited electric mouse on his shoulders, checked the time of a certain post clock near the Restaurant Rolling Dreamer, Lumiose City's most expensive restaurant as he finally reached such place, which is found in the Rouge Plaza of the city.

There was more than five minutes left before the agreed time of 12:00 PM. As Ash was about to look back at the restaurant for some reason, his eyes paused casually at the small calendarwindow in the clock's dial.

Sunday, 16th May, 20XX

For some reason, Ash then looked up at the surroundings and remembered some things in his mind while observing people helping one another in rebuilding establishments to its normal state as he then talked to his Pikachu.

"It had been more or less a week since that incident. I cannot believe it is going to be as fast as possible. Time's really running fast, isn't it, Pikachu?"

"Pikapi, Pikachu! Pikapika?"

For some reason, Pikachu's smile was replaced by worry, because of what had happened to him within three days after that incident.

"Huh? I, I know, Pikachu! I shouldn't really done that. Even so, I saved lives, right?"

"Pika? Pikapikachu," said Pikachu still feeling worried about its human partner's actions.

"Also, there are some more things to be worried about other than our recovery."

Right now, he thought of many things while being here in a certain area, waiting for a certain someone to come. For instance, there is his curiosity about a certain region he had yet to explore - the Alola Region, his meeting with certain people who became interested in the Bond Phenomenon that he and his Greninja had and most importantly, the Pokemon World Tournament revealed by Miss Joy...

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Pika?"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I, I'm sorry if I come late!"

His mind then changed from those certain thoughts to a certain shoulder-length white-haired lady that had just come to him and his Pikachu from elsewhere, feeling exhausted.

"Huh? You aren't late... Huh?"

The reason for such change of mind from him is that he also made promises to a certain someone to have a friendly date with. After all, she is one of those people who are inspired by his dedication to his Pokemon as well, just like his companions and colleagues who had joined him in his Pokemon journey. However...

"Hmmm... W, Who are you, miss?"

"Eh?"

"I supposed to meet someone named Katherine like what the two of us concerted two days ago-"

"Ah! I see," said the shoulder-length white-haired lady as she eventually gave him a soft laugh, "it must be the change of look that made me unrecognizable to you."

"..."

"I, I'm Katherine, Ash."

"You're Katherine?"

"Pika?"

The white-haired lady then put her hands to her hair and hold numerous hair strands for her to raised up, showing an indication of a certain someone wearing pigtails... just like Katherine - something that Ash then realized, as he then showed an exaggerated laugh to her.

"S, So it is really you! Your appearance is new to me! I'm really sorry."

Katherine then shook her head slowly, "no need to worry about that. Ummm... good day, Ash."

"Still, you reminded of someone doing the same thing, you know..." Just now, Ash immediately thought of a certain honey-haired girl who completely changed her appearance entirely because of her resolve as a Pokemon Performer [11] as he then smiled shyly at Katherine, "H, Hello Katherine."

* * *

 ** _Continue on: Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _**Part IV**_

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

 _The Latias that appeared here is not the Latias from the Pokemon Heroes Movie. Rather, this is the Latias that appeared in a certain episode of Diamond and Pearl series owned by Miss Joy, similar to how the Sinnoh League Conference Winner Tobias (during DP season) has a Darkrai and a Latios... So the Latias doesn't say hi and kissed Ash to the cheek, like what that movie's Latias did to Ash... and especially unlike Serena (anime) who canonically kissed him in the lips in the final episode of Pokemon XY &Z (with all the hidden hints considered from the writers and the directors themselves)._

 _Also, to take note of the time differences, all of these events happened in order, it is just that the world's time zones could make a difference. This is especially true since the Kanto Region and the Kalos Region were almost on the opposite sides of the world (assuming this world loosely based on the real one). This is why the time shown during the Lusamine and Adam's scene is 5:30 PM instead of somewhere between 9:30 AM and 12:00 PM._

 _For now, as for the Pokemon:_

 _Leader Clemont  
_ Luxray - None  
Type: Electric  
Ability: Guts  
\- Wild Charge (Electric; Physical)  
\- Electric Terrain (Electric; Status)  
\- Swift (Normal; Special)  
\- Thunder Fang (Electric; Physical)

 _Inspector Joy  
_ Latias - None  
Type: Dragon/Psychic  
Ability: Levitate  
\- Mist Ball (Psychic; Special)  
\- Recover (Normal; Status)  
\- Dragon Pulse (Dragon; Special)  
\- Ice Beam (Ice; Special)

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Derived from a certain backstory of Ash during his childhood days along with his mother in "Pocket Monsters: The Animation" novel.  
 **[2]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 27 - Pokemon XYZ Episode 29  
 **[3]** Pokemon XY Episode 5 - Pokemon XY Episode 6  
 **[4]** Pokemon DP Episode 193: Pewter City Gym - The Greatest Crisis Ever!  
 **[5]** Pokemon DP Episode 189: Sinnoh League Semi-Finals! Enter Darkrai!  
 **[6]** Pokemon AG Episode 135 - Pokemon AG Episode 136  
 **[7]** Pokemon AG Episode 178, Pokemon AG Episode 189  
 **[8]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 3: Mega Audino VS Giga Giga Meowth  
 **[9]** Pokemon XY &Z Special Episode 1: Legend of XYZ  
 **[10]** Pokemon XY Episode 30 - Pokemon XY Episode 32  
 **[11]** Pokemon XY Episode 60 - Aim to be the Kalos Queen! Serena Makes Her Debut!


	17. Inevitable Invitations IV

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _ **Part IV**_

* * *

Ash, who had brought a certain excited electric mouse on his shoulders, checked the time of a certain post clock near the Restaurant Rolling Dreamer, Lumiose City's most expensive restaurant as he finally reached such place, which is found in the Rouge Plaza of the city.

There was more than five minutes left before the agreed time of 12:00 PM. As Ash was about to look back at the restaurant for some reason, his eyes paused casually at the small calendar window in the clock's dial.

Sunday, 16th May, 20XX

For some reason, Ash then looked up at the surroundings and remembered some things in his mind while observing people helping one another in rebuilding establishments to its normal state as he then talked to his Pikachu.

"It had been more or less a week since that incident. I cannot believe it is going to be as fast as possible. Time's really running fast, isn't it, Pikachu?"

"Pikapi, Pikachu! Pikapika?"

For some reason, Pikachu's smile was replaced by worry, because of what had happened to him within three days after that incident.

"Huh? I, I know, Pikachu! I shouldn't really done that. Even so, I saved lives, right?"

"Pika? Pikapikachu," said Pikachu still feeling worried about its human partner's actions.

"Also, there are some more things to be worried about other than our recovery."

On that time, he then immediately remembered about everything that had happened these past three days.

Three days ago, Ash met a yellow-haired lady named Lusamine and a certain raven-haired man named Adam, with the latter being the person he had battled against in yet another showdown between two Pikachu. Despite such man being a total stranger to Ash, his natural instinct for Pokemon battles made him to fight the man earnestly. Also, both of them invited him to help them for their research at a certain island in a certain region he had not traveled yet - the Alola Region.

Throughout those times since then, Ash became curious about such region as usual, as well as feeling slightly excited about it somehow, despite the questions he had currently encountered at the moment. However, through a certain television show being broadcasted, the only information he had got so far was that the region has four islands namely Melemele Island, Akala Island, Ula'ula Island and Poni Island.

He only felt worried as there is no mention of a certain island called the Aether Paradise, that is. But at the end of the day, he was still optimistic that he'll be able to get there along with his Greninja.

Also, a few hours ago in Prisma Tower, the location of Lumiose City Gym...

* * *

The time in a certain digital clock within the Gym was 9:45 AM.

 _"""Pokemon World Tournament?!"""_

Hearing such event clearly made everyone who are now sitting within the arena of said gym drawing their attention towards the Gym Inspector Joy, who is still caring gently her Latias. This is especially true for Pokemon trainers like Ash and Alan who have become more interested with this.

 _"Was that the same thing as the Pokemon World Tournament Junior Cup in Unova Region,"_ asked Ash to Miss Joy about such information with quite interest on his face because of Pokemon battles, making him feeling slightly interested, _"I have participated there once. I only got second place there after losing against one of my rivals."_ [1]

 _"Pikapika..."_

Upon seeing Ash and Pikachu feeling slightly disappointed with the result of the Junior Cup during his time in the Unova Region a year ago, Serena cannot help to be smiled softly about it. Serena added to him:

 _"Talking about your own experiences, Ash."_

 _"That's part of me now, I guess, Serena,"_ answered Ash as he looked at her with a weak laugh.

 _"The Pokemon World Tournament Junior Cup? Yes, that has to be like that. H_ _owever, this tournament is different from the Junior Cup. T_ _he Junior Cup happened in every region inviting young trainers to battle to the top and give the opportunity to take a one-on-one match against the region's Pokemon Champion every year, a_ _nd if that young trainer wins the official one-on-one match against the Pokemon Champion... You should already know about this,"_ said Miss Joy as she and Latias looked at Ash with eagerness, followed by a nod from Latias.

 _"Yeah. That would also mean the trainer will be crowned as the new Pokemon Champion. That's really a shortest way to become one... But what do you mean by being different, Miss Joy?"_

 _"This tournament only happened every ten years. In this case, the new one will be happening four months from now at the Alola Region, that has built its own Pokemon League..."_

Hearing the word _Alola Region_ made Ash feeling more curious about the mysteries behind the region itself as well as the feeling of emptiness as he thought of the realization of his empty dream. He is about to bow down to think about certain things...

 _"Ash..."_

Hearing such saddened voice, he eventually looked at the voice's source and then responded such person with an assured smile and said:

 _"Don't worry. I will assure that I won't be at loss anymore."_

Such person responded him with a nod and the same smile - a situation similar to that of a conversation before Ash's second attempt to get the Glacier Badge from Wulfric, a middle-aged person who is the Gym Leader of Snowbelle City. [2]

Miss Joy continued with the revealing of information about the upcoming important event.

 _"Unlike the Pokemon League and the Junior Cup, this one only invited a selected number of people to become representatives of a certain region's team... and compete and win against the other teams's trainers around the world through numerous events."_

 _"So that's like a team battle,"_ responded Clemont as he eventually adjusted his glasses with curiosity as usual, _"but what do you mean by having a selected number of people to participate in a team?"_

 _"Great Pokemon trainers like the Pokemon Champion, the Elite Four, the Gym Leaders..."_ said Miss Joy as she turned to look at Clemont and Korrina who are two of the Gym Leaders of the Kalos Region. Both of them only felt shocked hearing such revelation and now making thoughts for themselves, as far as Ash had seen the two of them.

Notably, Ash should have congratulated Clemont for such chance to become part of a certain team from the Kalos Region to participate for the upcoming tournament, like Clemont's younger sister had done right now. However, his thoughts are focused only on just one thing...

The Gym inspector continued:

 _"... as well as certain number of interesting trainers who participate in certain Pokemon League tournaments, but especially the most recent ones."_

After few seconds observing the people she's conversing with now, she then realized something as she saw Ash and Alan carefully, _"Hhhmm... You two must be the recent Kalos League's finalists, Alan and Ash, right?"_

 _"Huh? Yes, we are, Miss Joy,"_ answered Alan immediately as he came beside Ash after somewhat being flinched a bit hearing Miss Joy's statement.

 _"You two really did very well to make the finals of the Kalos Pokemon League tournament truly a spectacle to watch. That's an interesting battle you have there."_ [3]

 _"Thanks."_

 _"Thanks, Miss Joy..."_

 _"Pikapika!"_

After Ash, who needed to scratch his hair for some reason, and Alan complimented Miss Joy, the latter immediately changed her smile with a serious expression as she proceeded, much to the surprise of anyone around them now.

 _"I believe anyone who watched the match must have found new ways of battling, especially the veteran Pokemon trainers."_

 _"D, Do you mean... like the Mega Evolution that my Lucario can able to work out?"_

After having some thoughts for herself, Korrina eventually turned her attention to Miss Joy and proactively raised to Miss Joy as she came beside Ash and Alan, along with her Lucario, for she is known to be a descendant of the first person who is capable of having a certain Pokemon undergoing Mega Evolution according to the legends spread around the Kalos Region.

 _"Yes. But not only that..."_ said Miss Joy with the same expression. She then looked at Ash and spoke again, _"You must be from the Kanto Region, Kalos League Conference's recent runner-up, Ash?"_

 _"Yes, I am! What is it, Miss Joy?"_

 _"I believe there are rumors about the Pokemon League around the world concerning your performance in Pokemon battles, especially with your Greninja having a special ability similar to those Pokemon who can evolve beyond their own limits, but without the usage of the Key Stones and the Mega Stones."_

 _"That's the Bond Phenomenon, Miss Joy."_

As far as he and his companions could remember about this certain phenomenon, Bond Phenomenon may be achieved when the trust between a certain Trainer and his/her Pokemon reaches maximum. In his case, that would be him and his Greninja. While both of them are using this form, Ash shares Greninja's pain in the same place the Pokemon was dealt damage as well as sharing its point of view. If the form is not mastered, both of them can pass out from exhaustion.

 _"I see... For now, prepare yourself for those invitations. I'm assured certain number of people from the Pokemon League associations on various regions will invite you to join their region's team, especially the team of your home region."_

 _"Kanto Region... Hmm..."_

 _"And if they come to invite you, you must have to think wisely."_

 _"..."_

Three days ago, he was invited to help a certain group of people to work for their research concerning the bonds between humans and Pokemon personally by certain leaders of an organization from the Alola Region, the Aether Foundation, mainly because of him and his Greninja.

Now, with the attention Ash created to the world concerning the rare phenomenon between him and his Greninja, he might possibly be invited by another group of people to join for a certain team for an upcoming world tournament where many strong trainers from around the world are expected to come. It will also take place in the Alola Region.

He immediately remembered his journey through different regions concerning his participation to various Pokemon League Conferences around the world, along with his Pikachu, led by a certain old man whom Ash knew pretty well. After all, said person, President Samaranch, had always shown trust to the trainer that the latter will safely bring the ceremonial torches carrying the sacred flames of various legendary birds to the rightful place every time Ash is given the opportunity to do so. [4]

On the first time he made a journey to a certain region - the home region of Kanto, he participated in the Indigo Plateau Conference at the Indigo Plateau more than three years ago where he ended up as one of its ninth-to-sixteenth placers after losing to a certain rival named Ritchie due to his reluctance when it comes to Pokemon training especially his Charizard, in addition to the missed opportunity to settle down his rivalry with Gary. The conference winner on that time was a male trainer whose name Ash didn't bother to remember. [5]

Towards the end of his Pokemon journey in the Johto Region, he participated in Silver Conference at the Silver Town of the Johto Region three years ago, where he ended up as one of its four quarterfinalists after losing to a certain trainer from Littleroot Town of Hoenn Region, Harrison - the person who gave Ash a reason to travel to Hoenn Region after showing him his Blaziken and his Kecleon. This is in addition to Ash and Gary's rivalry ended up in Ash's favor during one of eight Top 16 matches. It was Jon Dickson from Sento Cherry Town who won the entire tournament. [6]

Towards the end of his journey in the Hoenn Region, he joined the Ever Grande Conference in the Ever Grande City of the Hoenn Region more than two years ago, where he ended up as one of its four quarterfinalists once again after being defeated by another trainer from Mauville City, Tyson - who is also the winner of said conference as well. [7]

Towards the end of his journey in the Sinnoh Region, he joined the Lily of the Valley Conference in the Lily of the Valley Island of the Sinnoh Region more than a year ago, where he ended up as one of its two semifinalists after being defeated by a mysterious trainer, Tobias - who is also the winner of said conference as well. It was still an amazing feat for Ash as he is the only trainer who defeated two of Tobias' Pokemon - Darkrai and Latios - in the entire tournament in comparison to all others that never defeated Darkrai at all, including the runner-up. This is also in addition to Ash and Paul's rivalry ended up in Ash's favor during one of its quarterfinals matches, and the two trainers ended up respective one another's beliefs in Pokemon training. [8]

Towards the end of his journey in the Unova Region, he eventually joined the Vertress City in the Unova Region a year ago, known as the Vertress Conference a year ago, where he ended up as one of its four quarterfinalists for the third time after being taken down by Cameron and his Lucario during their quarterfinals match, in addition to Ash and Trip's rivalry ended up in Ash's favor as early as one of its Top 128 matches and the two trainers ended up respective one another's beliefs in Pokemon training, like Paul. It was Virgil who won said conference and is someone well-known for utilizing a unique Pokemon line up - the Eevee family. [9]

Recently, it was the Lumiose Conference that made him going to his peak form as a Pokemon trainer, fighting all the way to the finals, with his so-called the _ultimate team_ consisted of the Mouse Pokemon Pikachu, the Ninja Pokemon Greninja, the Scorching Pokemon Talonflame, the Wrestling Pokemon Hawlucha, the Sound Wave Pokemon Noivern and the Dragon Pokemon Goodra _._ His run was cut short though after his defeat against Alan, making the latter the winner of the conference - shortly before the Team Flare made the greatest crisis in the Kalos Region. [10]

However, after he had thought of his experiences as a Pokemon trainer, he may have improved his skills in Pokemon battling and many other things, but none of these answered the question of how to become a Pokemon Master himself.

With that, instead of a smile like he would always do, his eyes are rather filled with a new determination - a feeling that he hoped he will be find the answers for his doubts about the existence of the Pokemon Master through these kinds of encounters in his life.

Such feeling is carefully observed by his mother Delia who eventually became concerned about him in these times. After all, she is the one who knows Ash the most.

* * *

After Ash remembering a certain event few hours ago, he and his Pikachu then looked at the same post clock near the Restaurant Rolling Dreamer once again.

 _11:58 AM,_ he thought as he looked at it closely.

At that point, he then also remembered how very happy he and his Greninja reunited after many days of recovery for both, much to the satisfaction of anyone else around him. Even so, the team of medics aren't able to show any result concerning the eventual increase in the Ninja Pokemon's power spike, along with Mairin's Chespin, during the incident involving Team Flare as everyone had revealed to him before...

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Pika?"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I, I'm sorry if I come late!"

His mind then changed from those certain thoughts to a certain shoulder-length white-haired lady that had just come to him and his Pikachu from elsewhere, feeling exhausted.

"Huh? You aren't late... Huh?"

The reason for such change of mind from him is that he also made promises to a certain someone to have a friendly date with. After all, she is one of those people who are inspired by his dedication to his Pokemon as well, just like his companions and colleagues who had joined him in his Pokemon journey. However...

"Hmmm... W, Who are you, miss?"

"Eh?"

"I supposed to meet someone named Katherine here near this restaurant like what the two of us concerted two days ago-"

"Ah! I, I see," said the shoulder-length white-haired lady as she eventually gave him a soft laugh, "it must be the change of look that made me unrecognizable to you."

"..."

"I, I'm Katherine, Ash."

"You're Katherine? How is it?"

"Pika?"

The white-haired lady then put her hands to her hair and hold numerous hair strands for her to raised up, showing an indication of a certain someone wearing pigtails - just like Katherine whom he met few days ago as well as the girl who proposed to him for a certain friendly date like this - something that Ash then realized, as he then showed an exaggerated laugh to her. She is also one of the fashion designers who worked under Lavarre City Gym Leader Valerie - one of the furisode girls, in fact.

"S, So it is really you! Your appearance is new to me, Katherine! I'm really sorry."

Katherine then shook her head slowly, "no need to worry about that. Ummm... good day, Ash."

"Still, you reminded of someone doing the same thing, you know..." Just now, Ash immediately thought of Serena who completely changed her appearance entirely because of her resolve as a Pokemon Performer few months ago. He then smiled shyly at Katherine and said, "Anyway, h, hello Katherine!"

On that time, Katherine still felt nervous just seeing him in person, let alone joining him in a certain date for just the two of them. After all, she only felt shocked that he gladly accepted the proposal in doing so, despite both of them being complete strangers to one another, unlike his friends who had been with him before she even meets him. Perhaps, Ash had a reason in doing so.

Ash, on the other hand, felt slightly worried about this friendly date. After all, he only accepted such proposal because of his empathy towards everyone, humans and Pokemon. His thoughts now are like these:

If the girl could have been Misty, he might have brought her to Ambrette Town to show her the region's well-known Ambrette Aquarium due to her love of Water-type Pokemon. He thought she might get along pretty well with a certain middle-aged man he, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie met, Rodman, who sought to catch a golden Magikarp in that man's life. [11] She might have brought her as well in Santalune City Gym to make her appreciate the Bug-type Pokemon more than ever before through the aid of its Gym Leader Viola. [12] Also, now that she came along with his mother to visit him in the Kalos Region due to their concerns about the recent incident, he will be going to share his experiences as a Pokemon trainer, being one of his first companions in his Pokemon journey.

If the girl could have been May, he might have brought her to various well-known restaurants in the city due to her love of food - more than Ash would do in his life as well as learning lessons in documentaries in _her own expeditions_ through an experienced news anchor, Malva of the Kalos Elite Four. Also, he knew May might be going to become interested in joining the Pokemon Showcases in this region and eventually becomes one of Serena's new rivals in the future.

"Pikapi?"

If the girl could have been Dawn, he might have brought her to various well-known fashion stores in the city due to her interest in fashion as well as making her joining in various competitions around the region such as the Pokemon Sky Relay [13], but most importantly, the Pokemon Showcases, making her a possible rival of Serena in the future, similar to May.

If the girl could have been Iris, he might have brought her to Snowbelle City and have her overcome her irrational fear of Ice-type Pokemon by fighting Wulfric and his Ice-type Pokemon led by Abomasnow [14], as well as bringing her to the Ninja Village to let her know and respect about their history [15], similar to the village she had once resided - the Village of Dragons.

If the girl could have been Serena, like Dawn, he might have brought her to various well-known fashion stores due to her love of fashion and eating pastries with her in various bakeries around the city as well as letting her know about the Pokemon Contests in the regions he travelled previously such as the Hoenn Region, now that she decided to travel along with her Pokemon in pursuing her goal similar to what Ash had done now. More importantly, he _is_ willing to bring her to somewhere else - to Pallet Town in the Kanto Region - for certain important reasons - concerning his past, that is. After all, Serena had been part of such past, being a childhood friend that he first met during Kanto Region's Pokemon Summer Camp [15] and had been with him along with their mothers in more than two weeks.

"Pikapi?"

Thinking about these girls who had been traveling with him in these years, along with having supportive male companions and sometimes, tag-along kids, with him, he eventually realized some things...

After his decision to go to the Hoenn Region right after the Silver Conference ended, just as Ash, Misty and Brock took a break at the Viridian City, they eventually learned that they had to part ways from one another in their long journey together due to unexpected circumstances [17], resulting Ash going alone to the new region, with only Pikachu on his side [18] - before meeting May, that is [19]. Over time, he is now getting used to it and he eventually come up to the realization that his journey with various companions will be the most precious memories in his life. [20][21][22] Clemont, Bonnie and Serena are no exception to this as they all knew they need to part ways some time from now, since Clemont resumes his role as Lumiose City Gym Leader with Bonnie on his side [23] and Serena will be going to Hoenn Region to participate for the Pokemon Contests as a Pokemon Performer. [24]

Only this time, unlike the others, he never knew how to address his farewell words to one of them - Serena - for some reason...

With Ash being the oldest among his group in the Kalos Region, he readily stood up as the older brother to them, as each one of them had shown various degrees of admiration. Even so, he never understood his thoughts whenever he's with the honey-haired girl - not that it bothered him the slightest throughout their journey together in the Kalos Region.

After all, more often, he always felt nervous and comfortable at the same time whenever he made conversations with the honey-haired girl alone for a certain unknown reason, anything about Pokemon or not, yet he felt satisfied sharing some of his experiences in his journey to her. Following his invitation to have her in his journey [16], both of them constantly sought one another for guidance and support to each another for various things other than just the Pokemon battles and Pokemon performances. [25][26][27][28] Unlike the previous female companions before her who can get annoyed by his actions at times, especially Misty and Iris during the first weeks of their journey with him, often resulting to him and these girls having some arguments during their journey, Serena is always friendly to everyone, humans and Pokemon alike, but to him especially for a reason he cannot figure out for himself.

After all, he realized these days - ever since his meeting with a certain raven-haired man in his thirties for a strange reason - that he constantly sought for an unknown goal - to be a Pokemon Master [29] - and even worked hard improving his Pokemon battling skills to reach such empty dream, in contrast to Serena who started off constantly seeking a certain goal that will be perfect for her just as she grew up [30] and now eventually decided to travel with her Pokemon in the Hoenn Region in order for her to improve to become someone who will become an inspiration to everyone who watched her performances. [24][27]

"That's too much overthinking. I must have headache by now," said Ash in a murmured voice, which Katherine and Pikachu eventually noticed.

"Pikapi?!"

"Uh... A, Ash?"

Once again, he got snapped out of his thoughts as Pikachu and Katherine called him while they are still standing on the same place as before. Even Pikachu needed to press its trainer's cheeks, hurting Ash in the process. It was already 12:00 PM. He then proceeded to say something:

"Ow! Huh? Pikachu? Katherine? I'm-"

"I'm sorry," said Katherine as she quickly bowed down to him few times, much to Ash and Pikachu's surprises.

"..."

"Pika?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't even plan out this date. My friends are the ones who suggested me that I should be doing these. To tell you the truth, other than your love on Pokemon and your interest in Pokemon battling, I barely know you at all, Ash... But still, I thanked you for accepting the invitation," said Katherine feeling sad about revealing the truth.

"Huh?!"

Ash was surprised a bit with such revelation from Katherine. Until now, Ash only knew her as one of the workers of a certain fashion store in Lavarre City that is also considered as a gym led by Valerie, her manager and she more often being accompanied by her three friends namely Kali, Blossom and Linnea in her work and in her leisure time. [31] Ash then took a deep breath and answered Katherine who was still feeling sad with a smile.

"Hmm... Then where do you think we should be going now, Katherine?"

"What? What do you mean, Ash?"

"We're already here now. We might regret this if we don't continue," said Ash as he looked at the rather surprised Katherine, "I was also surprised that you did that too few days ago. But now, there should be something we must do for ourselves, Katherine."

Since Ash knew her as a fashion designer like her manager, he thought that he should bring her in any of the fashion stores around the city, similar to Serena and Dawn-

"Ash, wait a bit," as Ash declared such idea to her, Katherine paused a bit while raising her right hand towards him and thought of something, "I have an idea!"

"What's your idea, Katherine?"

"Pikapika?"

Katherine only responded with a smile, while her cheeks got slightly red doing so, and proceeded to grab his right hand with her left one and they began to run elsewhere, much to Ash and Pikachu's worry.

"Let's go, Ash!"

"H, Hey, where are we going?"

"Pika?"

"I'm sure you're familiar with the place we're going to, so you just follow me," shouted Katherine with such confidence on her face as he looked at Ash, feeling excited at all.

* * *

Thirty minutes had passed...

"Ha! Y, You're truly familiar with those trainers! You're truly a great P, Pokemon trainer!"

"H, Huh? R, Really? T, Thanks! That might be because of my performance in the Kalos League, if nothing else... Hmm... I, I think you're quite experienced in fashion... Ha! So I think you might help Serena more there, Katherine!"

"S, Serena?! Do you mean that Pokemon Performer that's with you? Ha!"

"Y, Yeah."

"Huh...? We're finally here, Ash!"

"Where are we now?!"

After a series of encounters with different rookie trainers on the road just like what they're talking about just now while running, Katherine and Ash had finally stopped running in front of a certain newly-built large stadium of the city - Kalos League Stadium, as well as Katherine released her hand from Ash's. Still exhausted, Ash and Pikachu immediately looked up at this familiar place to him and stayed quite for a short while after taking a deep breath.

"Hmm..."

"Pikachu..."

"Huh? What is it, Ash?"

"This stadium... is just like some of the others that we've ran throughout the city just now. It was still under repair due to that incident last week," said Ash, which prompted Katherine to look at the stadium as well.

"Yes," said Katherine as she nodded in agreement. She then proceeded to remember a certain young girl who was crying to her because of a certain reason just a few days ago, "such attack caused some establishments - or even some lives - to be destroyed. The establishments might be repaired... But the lives of people or Pokemon..."

Katherine unconsciously flowed her tears to her cheeks as she bowed down, something that Ash eventually noticed and felt bad about it. However, Katherine then looked at Ash with a smile, still crying...

"But... But still, I'll still be thankful to you and the others for saving this region from a certain destruction. You're really a hero of this region, Ash."

"Heh," Ash immediately looked surprised upon hearing such praises as him being a hero and then answered her as he looked away, "that's enough of praising me like that, Katherine. You're still crying, you know. You're still grieving about many lives that lost because of the brainwashed Zygarde. I know it's Team Flare's fault that they do that, but it's also our fault too not acting immediately."

"..."

"Let's go inside now," said Ash as he took a deep breath and decided to enter the building through the main door after thinking about many things just now - from a certain offer to go to the Aether Paradise, to a possible offer to join a team of a certain region he chose for the Pokemon World Tournament, to a certain honey-haired girl he's still in his mind and now, to the incident that had happened a week ago. Then he faced her once again, giving her an assured smile, "don't worry. I'm fine."

"Ash... Hm..."

* * *

The time on a certain digital clock on the large screen of the stadium is 12:50 PM, when they finally arrived at one of parts of the audience area - to where Ash and his friends sit during the Lumiose Conference more than a week ago - in order to look at the entirety of such place as well as the people who are continuing to work on rebuilding this establishment into a better place for some of the upcoming events in the future.

"WOW!"

Katherine felt impressed personally seeing the entire stadium. She added as she acted as if she's on a sightseeing mode for herself, surprising Ash a bit, "so this is what this stadium looks like up close. It's so enormous! Ash, aren't you feeling the same when you first come here?"

"Yes, I am. I'm gonna miss this place... not just this place, but also the entire Kalos Region once I've returned back to Kanto Region sooner or later."

"Kanto Region," said Katherine as she got flinched a bit hearing that region. She continued as both of them started walking to elsewhere, "do you mean you live in that region, Ash?"

"Yeah. In fact, I'm from Pallet Town. Why do you ask that, Katherine?"

"I'm from the Johto Region and my homeland was Ecruteak City, which is where my manager came from as well, Ash." [32]

"Johto Region, huh? Wait! Do you really mean Lavarre City Gym Leader Valerie?"

"Yes, my manager had began working in the fashion industry in this region more than three years ago and I followed her a year later."

"But still, I cannot believe you and Miss Valerie are actually from Ecruteak City. I had once participated in the Silver Conference in that region three years ago, just like the Lumiose Conference here recently," said Ash as he looked up to the blue sky, thinking about something, which was then followed by a soft laugh from Katherine.

"Hmm... Do you think there is any difference between the league conferences in this region and that in the Johto Region, Ash?"

"To tell you the truth, Lumiose Conference is the one league conference I joined with the shortest number of participants."

"R, Really?!"

"It was quite a surprise, but at least, I finally got better now compared to all other conferences I participated previously, ending at Top 2, the highest rank that I got for a Pokemon League conference ever since I've started my journey four years ago in my home region. So I'm thankful for this opportunity and I've learned a lot now more than ever. But still... Hmm..."

"Pikachu...?"

"Earth to Ash. Are you alright?"

Once again, an annoyed Pikachu had to pressed its trainer's cheeks to have his attention back at them.

"Ouch. That hurts, Pikachu. Huh?"

"Pikapikachu..."

"Is there anything that bothered you, Ash?"

"There's n, nothing, Katherine. I'm just wondering about those differences that you asked between various league conferences during my journey. All I can say is that there are a lot of differences. But I can't tell it whether those differences really matter."

"Yes, those differences don't really matter, Ash of the Kanto Region."

""Huh?""

"Pika?"

A voice of a certain man was heard elsewhere by Ash, Pikachu and Katherine, making the three eventually going to find the source of that voice who called Ash. As Ash turned around towards the wall near one of the entrances to the audience area, he saw a certain blue-haired young man along with a certain avian-like creature beside him and a certain purple-haired young lady along with a certain purple insectoid creature flying beside her. Ash immediately recognized the insectoid as a Venomoth, but not the avian-like creature whose head and shoulders are covered with a leafy hood.

The blue-haired man proceeded to speak once again.

"It's been a long time, Ash."

* * *

 ** _Continue on: Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _**Part V**_

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_

 _In case you got confused about the girl named Katherine, she is one of the four named furisode girls featured in the Pokemon XY series (debut appearances in the anime: Pokemon XY Episode 73: Battle at the Fashion Show! Bagon VS Spritzee!) working under the Gym Leader Valerie of Lavarre City. Her introductory appearance here is "on the second part of the first chapter" (or Chapter 005) of this story._

 _For now, good day and have fun._

* * *

 **[1]** Pokemon BW Episode 90 - Pokemon BW Episode 93  
 **[2]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 29: Ash-Greninja VS Mega Abomasnow! Unleash the Giant Water Shuriken!  
 **[3]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 37 - Pokemon XYZ Episode 38  
 **[4]** Pokemon OS Episode 74, Pokemon AG Episode 125  
 **[5]** Pokemon OS Episode 74 - Pokemon OS Episode 80  
 **[6]** Pokemon OS Episode 265 - Pokemon OS Episode 272  
 **[7]** Pokemon AG Episode 125 - Pokemon AG Episode 131  
 **[8]** Pokemon DP Episode 182 - Pokemon DP Episode 189  
 **[9]** Pokemon BW Episode 103 - Pokemon BW Episode 108  
 **[10]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 32 - Pokemon XYZ Episode 38  
 **[11]** Pokemon XY Episode 22: Fish Up The Golden Magikarp!  
 **[12]** Pokemon XY Episode 05 - Pokemon XY Episode 06  
 **[13]** Pokemon XY Episode 77: The Pokémon Sky Relay Challenge! Fly, Noibat!  
 **[14]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 27, Pokemon XYZ Episode 29  
 **[15]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 06 - Pokemon XYZ Episode 07  
 **[16]** Pokemon XY Episode 07: Leave it to Serena!? The Charging Rhyhorn Race!  
 **[17]** Pokemon OS Episode 273: Goodbye...and Then, Setting Off!  
 **[18]** Pokemon OS Episode 274: Parting with Pikachu...!  
 **[19]** Pokemon AG Episode 01: A New Land! A New Adventure!  
 **[20]** Pokemon AG Episode 192: End of a Journey, and Then the Start of a Journey!  
 **[21]** Pokemon DP Episode 191: Memories are Pearls! Friendship is a Diamond!  
 **[22]** Pokemon BW Episode 141: Best Wishes! Until the Day We Meet Again!  
 **[23]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 44: Starting From Zero! Clemont's Decision!  
 **[24]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 45: Last Battle With Ash! Serena's Choice!  
 **[25]** Pokemon XY Episode 40: Serena VS Shauna! Pokevision Showdown!  
 **[26]** Pokemon XY Episode 59: Ash and Serena's First Date!? The Tree of Promises and the Presents!  
 **[27]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 20: Aria VS Serena! Open the Door to the Future!  
 **[28]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 28: The Winding Woods... The Dawn of Evolution!  
 **[29]** Pokemon OS Episode 01: Pokemon! I Choose You!  
 **[30]** Pokemon XY Episode 07 - Pokemon XY Episode 41  
 **[31]** Pokemon XY Episode 73 - Pokemon XY Episode 74  
 **[32]** In the Pokemon X and Pokemon Y games, Valerie is revealed to be a fashion designer hailed from the Johto Region. Also, Ecruteak City in the Johto region is inspired by the city of Kyoto and some of its residents use the same dialect.


	18. Inevitable Invitations V

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 ** _Chapter 03: Inevitable Invitations_** _ **Part V**_

* * *

The time on a certain digital clock is 1:10 PM.

"Greninja, I choose you."

"Here we go, Lurantis!"

On one end of a certain grassy plain-like battlefield were Ash and Katherine summoning out their Pokemon of choice from their respective Pokeballs.

"It has been a long time since we've done this, Greninja," said Ash to his Ninja Pokemon, which followed by a nod in agreement.

Ash picked out his ace - the Ninja Pokemon, Greninja - for this battle. Ash already had thoughts to use him immediately whenever there are Pokemon battles occured sooner or later for certain reasons - to let himself know about a certain move that he used to defeat Lysandre and the Guardian of Order megalith, along with Mairin's Chespie and the complete form of Zygarde; and to make sure that both of them are still synchronized like before. After all, he never questioned his bonds with all of his other Pokemon until Ash-Greninja came to him. He and his Greninja might have perfected it before but it has been a while since the two had been away from one another for their recovery.

Also, he picked Greninja because of the hardwork that his other Pokemon in his line-up had done to Lumiose City Gym these days while he and Greninja were cured. However...

"Lurantis?"

Ash, his serious Greninja and his cheerful Pikachu felt extremely surprised as they witnessed Katherine's call to a certain pink plant-like insectoid creature smaller than Greninja, much to Katherine's wonder.

"W, What is it, Ash?"

Ash immediately showed off his upgraded Kalos Pokedex and near Katherine's Lurantis.

-No available data-

"So it's really a new Pokemon like Decidueye, or is it something else," asked Ash as he became curious about it as well as a certain owl-like Pokemon with a leafy hood on its head that's called Decidueye, while his Greninja in front of him went into armfold position facing at Katherine and her Lurantis and his Pikachu beside him scratching its head. After all, as a person who has been on a Pokemon journey, Ash is constantly quenching his thirst for knowledge when it comes to Pokemon, "where did you discover Lurantis, Katherine?"

"It's a long story, but my partner has been with me as a Fomantis ever since I was young and was in Ecruteak City in the Johto Region," answered Katherine as she went near to the Bloom Sickle Pokemon to gently touch it, much to Lurantis' satisfaction. She added, "it is also my first Pokemon as well."

"Hmm..." wondered Ash as he tried to remember tried to remember his journey in the Johto Region. But... "I didn't really notice you before when I was in Ecruteak City on that time I traveled with my old friends in the Johto Region more than three years ago."

"Huh? Oh... I remember you said you participated in the Silver Conference in my home region. I think I had been away back then if you ever come to Ecruteak City."

"Yeah, I might travel for the Kalos Region first before the Hoenn Region if that's the case... But it seemed Lurantis isn't in the updgraded Kalos Pokedex, like Falkner's Decidueye. Do you know where they come from?"

After hearing such question, Katherine acted as if she's thinking of something, and then she realized one thing, as she remembered her own past concerning Lurantis, as the latter looked at her, feeling nostalgic to its trainer and then hugged her.

"Hmm... Lurantis, as a Fomantis, is my parents' gift for my birthday on our vacation to Alola Region several years ago-"

"A, A, A, Alola Region?"

Katherine and Lurantis felt surprised as Ash spoke loudly, but the cream-haired lady answered immediately after a pause.

"Y, Yes! My parents wanted something unique for my birthday on that time, so that's why they let me have Fomantis since then. Now, that I remember, that's why Pokemon trainers on that time when I was here or in the Johto Region can't even recognize my Pokemon, unless they're traveled Alola Region," said Katherine after she realized that the upgraded Kalos Pokedex didn't have any information about Lurantis. Ash took a deep breath and said to him with a smile.

"I, I see... Thanks. Alola Region is really the next region I will be going to travel."

"Huh?"

"Hmm... By the way, was Lurantis a Bug-type Pokemon?"

"Huh? Well..."

The change of topic by the cream-haired Pokemon trainer surprised the cream-haired fashion designer a bit. Even so, the latter answered such question.

Well, Lurantis isn't a Bug-type Pokemon. Rather, it's a Grass-type Pokemon."

"Hhmm... That's pretty weird. A Pokemon that looked like a mantis but isn't a Bug-type Pokemon. That sounds like Florges looking like a plant but is only a Fairy-type Pokemon instead of a Grass-type one," said Ash while giving off a weak laugh, much to her amusement.

Then Ash asked her, "have you experienced Pokemon battling long enough?"

"Y, Yes, but we're not as experienced as you are, Ash."

"Then that would be fine. Let's battle them with our best, Katherine! You wanted to battle with me when Falkner and Janine invited me to do so, after all. So let's have fun!"

"Huh?"

Katherine felt unsure about Ash's words. After all, she truly felt that she's not as experienced as a Pokemon trainer like Ash, and yet he encouraged her to do her best when she told him some time ago that she will be joining him in his battle.

"Hey, are you ready now, Ash?!"

""Huh?""

Ash, Katherine and their Pokemon eventually looked at the other side of the battlefield as someone from there shouted to there. Ash felt serious as he looked at two certain people from that other side. After all, twenty minutes ago, those two people offered him to join either one of the two teams participating to upcoming Pokemon World Tournament - the blue-haired man, whom Ash knew in the name of Falkner, offered him to join _Team Johto_ while the purple-haired woman, who introduced herself as Janine, did the same only to have him to _Team Kanto_ instead.

 _I must choose what I want to do now, or else I will regret not doing my own decisions, Falkner, Janine,_ he thought to himself, smiling...

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

On the opposite end of the battlefield from Ash and Katherine were a certain blue-haired young man and a certain purple-haired young woman whom Ash and Katherine met. Some time ago, Ash recognized the young man being Falkner, the Flying-type Gym Leader of the Violet City of the Johto Region, but not the young woman who then introduced to him as Janine, the daughter and student of the former Kanto Region Fuschia City Gym Leader Koga, who in turn became one of the new members of the Indigo Elite Four, as she revealed to Ash, much to his shock on that time. However, they aren't just talking about themselves to Ash.

In front of Falkner is his Decidueye, a cautious owl-like creature slightly smaller than him known as the Arrow Quill Pokemon, feeling brave enough to go for a battle like this, even with its eyes closed.

In front of Janine is her Venomoth, the Poison Moth Pokemon, feeling excited now that it was called by its trainer.

After Falkner called Ash out on the other end of the large battlefield and Ash replied with a large handwave towards them, Janine proceeded to say something to her partner out of worry.

"I didn't expect this to happen, Falkner. I thought we should fight one another for the recruitment of Ash to either one of us. But now..."

"That turned out to be pointless, Janine. After seeing his feat in this region's recent conference and his reply to us just some time ago, it is better for take Ash earnestly. He might likely participating to Team Kalos at this point. Even though Misty revealed to us that she had defeated the conference winner in a one-on-one battle here in this city, that doesn't mean Alan's an easy opponent," said Falkner as he then faced to Janine with a concerned smile. He added, "maybe our little fight about our fathers should be settled for later."

"Huh? Do you mean...?"

"For now, let's prove to Ash we're not going to lose as well, young girl."

"Hm... I understand, young man."

The two Gym Leaders clearly didn't understand Ash's situation or the meaning behind his words to them. After all, a certain Gym Leader of Cerulean City didn't even tell them about him and the new encounters in his life, specifically regarding to what she witnessed these days - not that Misty wanted to tell them about it. Falkner then sighed a bit as he said:

"You know, I'm not really used sharing a room with a girl who isn't my mother, Janine."

"W, What do you mean? But I'm sometimes used to do that when I'm on any mission as a ninja," answered Janine notably without any trace of feeling embarrassed on her words, "so... what's the problem, Falkner?"

"Well, nothing much," said Falkner who was then sighing after seeing her reaction. He then added:

"Anyway, let's start!"

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

 _ **Ash's Greninja/Katherine's Lurantis VS Falkner's Decidueye/Janine's Venomoth**_

"Let's give it all, Greninja. Dash at Decidueye, Greninja..."

"Fly as fast as you can, Decidueye..."

""Go.""

Upon hearing the command of their respective trainers, Greninja and Decidueye started to run with its strong hind legs and fly with its large leafy feather wings fast towards one another, while Lurantis and Venomoth are waiting for their turn to strike. Notably, Greninja dashed faster than Decidueye due to its better speed, making the ninja frog ran farther than large owl could even fly, and it even broke through the center of the plain-like battlefield to its opponent.

"Greninja, Cut."

Hearing such command from the raven-haired trainer, the Ninja Pokemon formed two large bright needles from its waist, sheathing and unsheathing such needles like a sword while dashing towards the Arrow Quill Pokemon. Greninja immediately jumped forward, proceeding to make a first strike towards Decidueye. However, as the azure frog was about to make slashes through the owl's body, the blades phased through the flying owl, much to Ash and his two Pokemon's shock, while the owl continued to fly forward past Greninja until it landed on the other side of the battlefield at the same distance with Ash's Greninja as with Katherine's Lurantis. With that, Ash became more careful about his next move since he and the others beside him are now aware of Decidueye's Ghost typing, especially he knew Falkner is an expert of Flying-type Pokemon.

"Venomoth, use Bug Buzz to Greninja!"

Hearing its purple-haired trainer's command, Venomoth's wings immediately glowed brightly purple and called out loudly, which then released sound waves from its body at the opposing ninja frog near him. Eventually, the sound waves reached Greninja, making the latter feeling headache and hurting it as well. Eventually...

"Decidueye, Leaf Blade!"

Decidueye, who was still on the other side of battlefield, stayed put as it quickly formed a blade from leaves which are summoned out from its feathery wings and are compressed, forming into a leaf blade. The owl then used the leaf blade as an arrow with its grip being held by its right hand and its left wing as a bow with its left hand holding the left green vine which is one of the two vines that serve an extension of an x-shaped object made of dead leaves on its chest, making said vine acting as its bowstring and its left wing as its limb. The Arrow Quill Pokemon then aimed the leaf blade to its target - the Ninja Pokemon on the other side of the battlefield.

"Lurantis, Leaf Storm..."

Hearing the command of its cream-haired trainer, Lurantis fired multiple sharp leaves spinning quickly around its body in the air towards the opposing Arrow Quill Pokemon, just as the archer was about to fire the leaf blade to the assassin.

"Decidueye, dodge it and change aim to Lurantis!"

"... to Venomoth."

The storm of sharp leaves that seemingly aiming towards Decidueye was dodged by the latter, and yet both the owl and its blue-haired trainer felt shocked with the cream-haired lady's decision. Eventually, just as the pueo owl fired the leaf blade towards the orchid mantis fast enough, leaving green trail on the leaf blade's tracks, the orchid mantis was already commanded to protect itself from the projectile attack by creating a large torquoise force field in front of the latter's body, right after a certain crimson aura briefly formed around the latter's body which increased the mantis' special power for some reason, reversing such move's original effect of decreasing the mantis' special power.

"Venomoth, use your Psychic to control the surge of sharp leaves and hit it on Greninja!"

The storm of sharp leaves created by the Bloom Sickle Pokemon was then immediately controlled by the Poison Moth Pokemon using its psychic powers, and directed the attack towards the Ninja Pokemon, who was now released from being struck by the sound waves created by the moth.

Greninja was then commanded by Ash to throw the short swords on its hands towards Venomoth and then to follow such attack with a certain Flying-type move and followed by a certain Water-type move towards the owl, while Decidueye was also commanded by Falkner to attack Lurantis immediately after the shield in front of the latter has gone. Greninja then threw the short swords towards Venomoth swiftly as the former dodged the surge of sharp leaves striking the ground around him, leaving these sharp leaves scattering on the ground upon impact, and then jumped high enough to give the Poison Moth Pokemon a flurry of straight punches, uppercuts and roundhouse kicks, dealing an effective damage to the latter, and hurting said moth even more after the former slammed the latter to the ground below it, much to Janine's worry given that Venomoth has been covered with bruises. Greninja then immediately throws a large shuriken made of compressed water at a very fast rate towards the other side of the battle for some reason.

On the other hand, Decidueye's body becomes surrounded in a light blue aura. It then flies straight at Lurantis after the latter's shield broke, slamming into the mantis -at the same time as the shuriken of water hit the owl as well, splashing water around the latter's body - with lesser impact , and hurting said mantis due to the owl's recent attack's being a Flying-type against the Bloom Sickle Pokemon's Grass-type - at the same time as the shuriken thrown by Greninja mid-air dealing ineffective damage. This made the mantis pushed back towards its trainer, much to the latter's surprise.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"Are you alright, my partner?!"

Katherine decided to go to where Lurantis was kneeling on a certain ground near its trainer because of the recent attack by its avian opponent, worried about its condition. Lurantis, while being hurt and feeling slightly exhausted, slowly stood up and walked forward until there is only a small distance between it and the still-surprised Decidueye, which has now being commanded by the blue-haired Gym Leader healing its injuries through a certain move as it glowed bright briefly. Katherine asked her Pokemon.

"It has been a while since we have a Pokemon battle with someone, which happened to be my manager. But can you still fight, my partner?"

The mantis felt surprised as it faced to its trainer, and then nodded in agreement once again, regaining its confidence to fight, making the trainer smiled a bit. Katherine then looked at Ash who was feeling more determined than ever before for some reason, now with a smile while Pikachu was cheering loudly for its friend Greninja. Katherine spoke once again but in murmured voice...

"Greninja, focus on Decidueye for now!"

"So this is really Ash in close up, huh? He's really full of energy when it comes to Pokemon battles, smiling if he felt satisfied, just like what I've seen in the TV."

As the blue frog nodded to its trainer and then turned to focus on the Arrow Quill Pokemon, Ash, on the other hand, felt really more determined than ever before for a reason he himself needed to keep his confidence. Like someone had told him yesterday, Ash should not overthinking may things and should instead concentrate on the present actions - to win any Pokemon battle for any reason. He eventually thought that he might be at his _best_ if he does that. Eventually, he noticed her speaking to him and said as he looked at her, still smiling:

"Hm... What is it you're saying, Katherine?"

"You're really in high spirits, Ash."

"Huh?"

* * *

 _"It's amazing how you're always so optimistic, Ash."_

 _"Huh... You think so?"_

 _"It all seems you'd never feel unsure about what to do."_

 _"Seriously? I feel unsure sometimes too."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"But you see... if you have time to feel unsure, you should just try making a move. If that ended up in failure, you'll still be learning something. There's nothing you can do that'd be a waste of time."_ [1]

* * *

Ash eventually remembered a certain situation quite similar and then he thought as he realized something and smiled further:

 _She really helped me with this big time. With that, I could only hope she could really come with me in Pallet Town before we part ways in our journey sooner. Thanks._

He then answered Katherine's statement afterwards with a smile.

"Yeah... for as long as I'm positive with things, I know there is something better that will come afterwards, Katherine. That's what should we always do in our lives. Nothing is impossible for as long as we reach for our goals."

Katherine felt surprised about his sentences, but then she quickly responded by nodding in agreement and said...

"You're right."

"Besides, you aren't anything bad as a Pokemon trainer, Katherine."

"Huh?"

... before Ash, while feeling slightly worried about one thing in his mind right now, realized something as he scanned back at the battlefield, making him feeling slightly shocked as he spoke once again that made Greninja agreed as well.

"Where's Decidueye? Greninja, be aware of the surroundings and listen to the wind," said Ash as he is still scanning the battlefield, but Decidueye is nowhere to be found at the moment.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"I know where Decidueye right now, Falkner. I can hear it."

Janine, who was still caring on her Venomoth that was still on the ground hurting, said seriously to the blue-haired trainer. After all, Janine had also scanned the battlefield as Decidueye is nowhere to be seen through normal means. Falkner answered with a smile.

"Since Decidueye is a Ghost-type Pokemon, it can able to hide itself for as long as any move other than Normal-type and Fighting-type won't touch Decidueye. Just like how some Pokemon are capable of levitating themselves in the air through different means - be it by natural flying, by their own abilities or by psychic powers. So don't worry, Decidueye is still on the battlefield. I know you knew that already, Janine. Being an assassin and all."

"Ooh... You're right about that, young man."

"Anyway, what do you think of Ash as a Pokemon trainer?"

"Huh?"

"He's truly improving since the last time I fought him, right? Given his experiences in his participation in different leagues, he's really more of a Pokemon Champion now."

As he said these words, Falkner smiled as he remembered his encounter with Ash. It was between Ash's Chikorita, Pikachu and Charizard against his Hoothoot, Dodrio and Pidgeot. After a heated battle, the battle ended with a win on Ash, earning him the Zephyr Badge, the first of the eight badges Ash got in the Johto Region more than three years ago. [2]

"I see," said Janine feeling disappointed about something. She added, "too bad. I haven't really fought him before so I couldn't say the same thing as you were, but my father did."

"What happened then?"

"I myself didn't know what happened, but my aunt, Aya, witnessed my father's battle on that time. She even told me that Venonat evolved during my father's battle against Ash to become what my Pokemon had become now. Am I right, Venomoth?" [3]

Venomoth, who was slowly flying back to the mid-air near its trainer's side of the battlefield, screeched a bit in agreement after hearing its trainer's questions. Falkner, on the other hand, eventually thought something in his mind as he said:

"Hm... Now that I think about your profession, I think Greninja will fit you, Janine."

"What's with the change of topic now, Falkner," asked Janine while wondering about his words.

"Well, it's been quite a while since we started sharing our experiences like this when we've got this trip together. I hoped we could have more after this. That's all I can say," said Falkner, smiling while his arms crossed.

"H... H... Huh?!"

After that, Falkner returned his focus on the battlefield from Janine, and then as he raised his left arm forward...

"Hm... Decidueye..."

... as it commanded another strike on its opponents.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

The battle continued as a sound of sharp winds rushing violently on its trail was heard in the battlefield. Such sound had gone louder from the blue frog's perspective until...

"Greninja!"

... Upon hearing its trainer's shout, Greninja was immediately struck down through some distance towards its trainer by an unknown powerful force hitting it on its back, and felt extremely hurt because of it, much to the shock of everyone else in the battlefield but the confident Falkner... and Decidueye - who then mystically appeared close to its blue-haired trainer in a certain archery stance with cautious expression on its face.

"Decidueye, use Spirit Shackle."

"Lurantis, use Protect to deflect the next arrowshot!"

Upon hearing another command from its blue-haired trainer, the Arrow Quill Pokemon shoot another arrow - different from the arrow the strigiformean creature used previously, as it wasn't made of sharp leaves this time - that swiftly distorted space itself, showing off the whirlwind in its path. However, the dictyopteran creature, being commanded by its cream-haired trainer, ran as fast as it can in front of its anuran teammate before such shadowy arrow was even fired and immediately protected the two of them by creating another circular force field in front of Lurantis facing on Decidueye's direction.

Such arrow then hit the force field impactfully, simultaneously destroying both the shadow arrow and the force field like a distorted wind and a cracking stained glass, respectively. On that time, Decidueye then once again disappeared from the eyes of any Pokemon.

After that happened, upon hearing the call of worry of the raven-haired trainer, the blue anuran creature, on the other hand, slowly stood up despite being hurt by the ranged leaf blade strike and returned to its fighting stance and affirmed for itself despite its pain from the sudden ranged strike on its back. However...

"Venomoth, Venoshock!"

... the lepidopteran creature immediately shoot multiple globs of poisonous fluid from its thin wings at the opponent aiming at the still-hurt Ninja Pokemon,...

"Lurantis, Leaf Storm!"

... which will then hit a storm of sharp leaves created by the Bloom Sickle Pokemon. Because of that, the fluid exploded on impact with such surge of wind, making the fluid falling on the ground below the impact point. Such attack from Lurantis made its special power increased even more as glowing crimson aura surrounded its body.

"Decidueye, Brave Bird!"

However, another surge of strong winds from elsewhere in the battlefield rushed straightforwardly towards the mantis-like creature, surprising Ash, Katherine and their Pokemon, especially Lurantis who had just used a certain Grass-type move. Eventually, such surge of strong winds was revealed to be Decidueye having its body surrounded in a light blue aura as it flies straight at Lurantis swiftly...

"Greninja, Water Shuriken at the ground!"

Greninja, feeling hurt, quickly countered the attack by creating another morning star of compressed water on its right hand and forcefully slamming such shuriken into the ground like a pickaxe, causing a wave of water to burst out of the ground aiming at the direction near Lurantis and to block the incoming swift strike from the Arrow Quill Pokemon towards the Bloom Sickle Pokemon. This caused the Arrow Quill Pokemon to go in panic as it might slammed itself to the water wave, slowing itself in order to not getting hit by such water wave.

"Venomoth, Bug Buzz!"

"Greninja, throw the Water Shuriken to Venomoth before it uses another attack!"

The serious Ninja Pokemon swiftly hurled the shuriken of water towards its opponent, the focused Poison Moth Pokemon, which was about to create sound waves from its body, much to the worry of the purple-haired female trainer. Such attack from Greninja eventually hit Venomoth's body once again, making the moth going wet due to the spread of water to its body. This caused its flight gone slowly, even worrying the Fuschia City Gym Leader more, making her to command her Pokemon to dry itself immediately with its wings.

"Lurantis, X-Scissor!"

Once the water wave had passed across a space between panicked Decidueye and surprised Lurantis, the latter's scythes glowed azure and then jumped into the air. It then crossed its scythes in front of its body and falls towards the opposing Decidueye. As it did, both Lurantis and Decidueye had then fell to the ground, feeling hurt from their respective strikes to one another, especially Lurantis which was more hurt due to the effectiveness of Decidueye's recent move against its typing, compared to vice versa.

The battle currently resulted to any of the Pokemon feeling exhausted already... That is, all four of them, but especially Lurantis who wasn't even able to stand up on that time - being hit by a very strong Flying-type move by Decidueye twice.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Janine's Venomoth, Falkner's Decidueye and Katherine's Lurantis were currently located on the Falkner and Janine's side of the battlefield, with Venomoth being the closest one to these trainers while Decidueye and Lurantis were closer to its center where Greninja is located...

After every one of the four trainers assured their Pokemon about their current conditions, from Falkner and Janine's perspective...

"We might able to win this, Falkner," Janine shouted to her blue-haired partner as she faced on him with a determined expression on her face, acting as if she's feeling excited about something. Falkner, on the other hand, only felt nervous about the current situation as he said:

"... Maybe..."

"Huh?"

"This already happened even before Ash's Greninja transformed to a different forme. What if he transformed into one now?"

"W, What do you mean? Do you mean the one that this Greninja used during the battle against that Alan's Charizard?" [4]

"We'll find out, Janine," said Falkner who then closed his eyes for some reason, after seeing his purple-haired partner's worried expression, "Let's continue then..."

"Y, You're right... Venomoth, go for Double Team and fire Venoshock to Greninja."

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

 _Now that Falkner appeared once again and Katherine being from Ecruteak City, that invisibility completely reminded me of my Gym battle against Morty_ [4] _... But this time my Greninja doesn't have the move Foresight to counter that invisibility. So, I and Greninja should rely now on instinct this time. This is quite an interesting battle..._

From Ash and Katherine's perspective, Katherine already felt more worried about her Pokemon, already feeling disappointed to herself for some reason. However...

"I'm sorry, Katherine," said Ash with his eyes closed and his head slightly bowed down.

"W, What?" Katherine felt surprised hearing his words, making her wonder about he meant just now.

"It's my fault that I really dragged you into this battle, and made your Lurantis protecting our mistakes."

There was a quick silence after he said such words. However, realizing such words to her, Katherine then looked somewhere around the audience area. Upon seeing something - or rather, some people, which made her feeling surprised, she just sighed and answered him back with a smile as she faced him once again:

"That's not a problem to me, Ash."

"Huh?"

"I'm the one willing to do this, helping you at all, even though I have no clues about what had really happening here. I don't know about the Pokemon World Tournament or their invitations to join either one of their teams for that tournament. But this is also part of our friendly date, you know!" Katherine said as she gave him a wink afterwards for assurance.

"F, Friendly date..."

Ash felt wondered about her words just now - part of which has something to do with him remembering a similar event as this one in the past [5] - as she continued speaking:

"You said just now that we should be positive about things and we will be winning any battle in our own ways. It seemed you're the one who's been more worried about much more things I don't even know than I do to mine."

"..."

"Besides, we always have our friends on our side to help us whenever there are problems. Including ourselves, that is. Look!"

Katherine proceeded to make Ash looked at the spot she pointed within the audience area. Upon looking at such spot, he felt surprised that there were already some people - who aren't workers in repairing the stadium, that is - carefully watching the battle. He then immediately smiled as he faced her back:

"Thank you, Katherine. With our friends here, we'll be able to overcome these obstacles that we're facing right now... and in the future..."

After Ash had giving off such confidence on his face, it was Katherine's turn to feel surprised about what had just happened now and then replied him with a genuine smile. And then...

"I will show to them who I really am," Ash continued as he became more focused than everything that happened to him recently - especially just as he faced the battlefield once again, he saw Venomoth creating multiple copies of itself and all of them fired multiple blobs of toxic fluid towards Greninja...

"Let's go Greninja! It's time to show our full power!"

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Just as the multiple blobs of poisonous fluid was about to hit Greninja, as Greninja heard such shout of encouragement from its raven-haired trainer it chose to bond with, eventually followed its actions - as it eventually covered itself in a water veil, making such attacks from Venomoth and its copies being deflected by such veil.

The water veil moved from around Greninja's body to its back and formed an X shape, which almost resembled the wings of a butterfly.

The wings then form into a small sphere shape of water on the middle of Greninja's back with a light blue ring in the middle of it and it then grows in size until it forms into a giant shuriken made of water.

And thus...

Ash-Greninja's transformation was then finally completed through a certain process called the Bond Phenomenon - making both the Gym Leaders whom Ash and Katherine faced right now feeling more nervous about the expected power of this mysterious Greninja, while Katherine only felt more surprised upon witnessing such incredible feat from Ash up-close.

It's about time for the more serious battle - at least, for every trainer other than Ash...

* * *

The time on a certain large screen of the stadium is 1:30 PM.

On a certain spot of the audience area were eight certain women who are now watching a certain doubles battle in the stadium.

Three of them are clearly supporting the cream-haired female trainer who was fighting alongside a certain raven-haired male trainer near their side, based on their chants. In fact, they happened to be the colleagues of the cream-haired trainer working under Lavarre City Gym Leader Valerie - the the raven-haired fashion designer, Kali; the honey-haired designer, Linnea; and the fair-skinned designer, Blossom - who, for some reasons, eventually came in to see such match, expressing such excitement on their youngest colleague - specifically since this happened to be a friendly date between the girl and that male trainer beside her. When the cream-haired trainer looked at them for the first time, the three gave her handwaves back at her in their excitement. Notably, these designers eventually recognized one of the other two girls accompanying them - a certain mahogany-haired woman, to be specific - as a popular Pokemon model in the past, constantly wondering about her resignation in doing so, much to the woman's amusement. Also, for a certain reason, they were also joined by their manager, Valerie, the Fairy-type Gym Leader of Kalos Region's Lavarre City.

The remaining four women happened to be the honey-haired performer, Serena; an orange-haired Gym Leader of Kanto Region's Cerulean City, Misty; and the mothers of Ash and Serena, Delia and Grace, all of whom believed that the raven-haired trainer always win all of the battles that he had, only in varying degrees of their support towards the raven-haired trainer; and said mahogany-haired woman, who happened to be mother of that certain raven-haired trainer, Delia, who also felt just as same as Serena. Just as said male trainer looked at the five of them once, Serena only felt surprised that he's able to do so. After all, she knew he's more used to be focused on the Pokemon battles more than anything else - aside from food, that is. Delia on the other hand remained calm on the situation they had right now, despite the fashion designers having interests on knowing her more. After all, she's one of the world's most popular Pokemon models during her time as one. [6]

As a certain mysterious transformation had happened on the Greninja located at the center of the battlefield...

"Oooooooh!"

""""Huh?""""

"So that's what happened... Now I see why both the Sinnoh League and the Hoenn League became interested to Ash now!"

"You're right. Ash finally realized his true potential as a Pokemon trainer. I'm glad that he is."

Such sweet (and in the latter's case, calm) voices didn't come from either Serena or the three fashion designers. In fact, all of them felt surprised upon hearing such voices.

Rather, it came from two certain girls who just came into that same spot as the other women through some stairs of the audience area - one of them being a certain excited black-haired young girl and the other being a certain mellowed shiny-violet-haired young girl - both of them seemed to be on the same age as Serena and Misty. Eventually, the excited female trainer then looked at Serena's group and immediately asked:

"Good afternoon, everyone! Do you, by any chance, also watch this battle?!"

"Y, Yes, we are," answered Serena while feeling shy facing these two trainers. She then added, "d, do you happen to know Ash?"

"Well..." answered the black-haired young girl with such an excited voice. She further replied as she pulled her friend closer to the battlefield, "both of us knew Ash just fine! Am I right, Anabel?"

"Yeah, you're right, Candice." Anabel calmly answered her friend's question as she then looked back at the battlefield, looking at certain someone out there. She also added, "I believe Ash will win this battle."

"Sinnoh League? Hoenn League? Then..."

"Is there something in your mind, Serena? Don't tell me they are..."

"Well..."

Valerie eventually asked Serena about something as she came closer to them, much to the latter's quick surprise. But upon remembering some certain thoughts on her mind - specifically during a certain situation in the Lumiose City Gym recently, Serena, feeling determined, asked the two newcomers about something...

"Are the two of you going to invite Ash to be part of the upcoming Pokemon World Tournament, Miss Candice, Miss Anabel?"

Everyone around her but one - Anabel - felt shocked about hearing such revelation. Anabel then calmly answered with a genuine smile.

"Yes, we are, and we... no, I am going to convince him to join the Team Hoenn, as of orders from the Hoenn League- What is it?!"

"There!"

The fair-skinned fashion designer, Blossom, hurriedly pointed her index finger towards elsewhere above the stadium, in which all others followed her afterwards...

"Wha... What's that light?!" Kali shouted, feeling shocked.

A mysterious blinding light appeared above the stadium. Blossom added something to others around her:

"A portal..."

* * *

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER: Chapter 04: The Remnant**_

* * *

 _Ace Trainer Ash  
_ Greninja - None  
Type: Water/Dark  
Ability: Battle Bond  
\- Cut (Normal; Physical)  
\- Aerial Ace (Flying; Physical)  
\- Double Team (Normal; Status)  
\- Water Shuriken (Water; Special)

 _Furisode Girl Katherine  
_ Lurantis - None  
Type: Grass  
Ability: Contrary  
\- Solar Blade (Grass; Physical)  
\- X-Scissor (Bug; Physical)  
\- Leaf Storm (Grass; Special)  
\- Protect (Normal; Status)

 _Leader Falkner  
_ Decidueye - None  
Type: Grass/Ghost  
Ability: Overgrow  
\- Leaf Blade (Grass; Physical)  
\- Synthesis (Grass; Status)  
\- Brave Bird (Flying; Physical)  
\- Spirit Shackle (Ghost; Physical)

 _Leader Janine  
_ Venomoth - None  
Type: Bug/Poison  
Ability: Compoundeyes  
\- Psychic (Psychic; Special)  
\- Double Team (Normal; Status)  
\- Bug Buzz (Bug; Special)  
\- Venoshock (Poison; Special)

* * *

REFERENCES:  
 **[1]** Pokemon XYZ Episode 020: Elle VS Serena! Open the Door to the Future!  
 **[2]** Pokemon OS Episode 131: Violet City Gym! Sky Battle!  
 **[3]** Pokemon OS Episode 032: Fuschia Ninja Showdown!  
 **[4]** Pokemon OS Episode 182: Ecruteak City Gym! Ghost Battle!  
 **[5]** Pokemon XY Episode 059: Ash and Serena's First Date?! The Tree of Promises and the Presents!  
 **[6]** Pocket Monsters: The Animation novels


	19. The Remnants I

_**Pocket Monsters: The World Tournament Series Volume One**_

 _ **Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Family_, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction

* * *

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER: Chapter 04: The Remnant** **Part I**_

* * *

May 16, 20XX.

The time on a certain digital clock within the stadium is 1:15 PM.

A certain two-on-two Pokemon battle had just commenced in the battlefield in the Lumiose Stadium between a Greninja owned by a raven-haired male trainer; and a Lurantis owned by a cream-haired female trainer from the one side of such battlefield against a Decidueye of a blue-haired male trainer and a Venomoth of a purple-haired female trainer from the other side. There was no referee who will be officiating such battle. The only other people within the stadium proper were few workers for the stadium... a certain shoulder-length orange-haired girl found in an aisle of a certain part of the audience area watching such battle.

As the Greninja and the Decidueye are dashing towards one another, seemingly preparing for their first strikes, the orange-haired lady, now feeling surprised, picked a certain orange-colored portable device on her right hand, and looked for something through its screen.

"Decidueye. The Arrow Quill Pokemon. Grass/Ghost-type. The final form of Rowlet's evolution line. Decidueye fires arrow quills from its wings with such precision, they can pierce a pebble at distances over a hundred yards. Although basically cool and cautious, when it's caught by surprise, it's seized by panic." The orange-haired girl read the certain entry about the owl-like creature while still looking at the screen.

"To think that Falkner is going to use a non-Flying-type Pokemon that looked like a bird, that he always used... That's quite a deception, Falkner." She added, acting like a jerk towards a certain someone from the battlefield.

"Goru..."

"Huh?"

Upon hearing a certain familiar Pokemon's voice, the girl looked at her side, only to see her Golduck voluntarily summoned out of its Pokeball within her green bag.

"W, What are you doing...?! Oh, I get it. You're also one too, Golduck."

"Goru..."

Initially, she would feel surprised seeing Golduck doing such act ever since it was a Psyduck few years ago. [1] However, she eventually realized that not only Decidueye is a bird-like creature that isn't a Flying-type, but also her Golduck, as well as its pre-evolution Psyduck, who is a Water-type - something Golduck excitedly agreed - a complete opposite to its former dimwitted and absentminded self that it was as that Psyduck.

As the girl looked back to the fight, she saw the cream-haired female trainer, whom she knew as Katherine, the person who proposed a friendly date to Ash three days ago (and the raven-haired male trainer, Ash, agreed to it for some reason, much to her shock), commanded her Pokemon to call out a storm of sharp leaves from nowhere against Decidueye which was about to fire a arrow of leaves to Greninja, but discontinued doing so. Instead, Decidueye switched its aim and successfully fired its arrow towards the mantis-like creature, only to be deflected by the latter through a certain force field, while eventually being enveloped by a crimson aura. This aura surprised the orange-haired lady, as she thought using a such move should its user be enveloped briefly with azure aura, indicating that the user's special power decreased.

With that, she then looked at the screen of her device once again, finding a certain database concerning the mantis-like creature...

"Let's see... Lurantis. The Bloom Sickle Pokemon. Grass-type. The final form of Fomantis' evolution line. It requires a lot of effort to maintain Lurantis's vivid coloring, but some collectors enjoy this work and treat it as their hobby. Lurantis fires beams from its sickle-shaped petals. These beams are powerful enough to cleave through thick metal plates..."

"Gorudaku?"

"That girl's Lurantis must have Contrary, an ability that makes the user's statistic changes having an opposite effect... She and Lurantis must have known this somehow... She must be a skilled trainer too."

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"So Katherine is really on a Pokemon battle with her crush? It also happened that her crush is none other than the runner-up of the Lumiose Conference. That's quite a unique date for her. Right, Kali, Blossom, Linnea?"

Hearing such words from a elsewhere around her as well as affirmation from the three women she knew as Kali, Blossom and Linnea, she only felt sadness once again as she looked back to where a certain raven-haired boy battling with his Greninja. Not only she had witnessed a certain conversation between the person she considered a _burden_ and a certain girl yesterday in Lumiose City General Hospital, but also she had witnessed that raven-haired trainer's affirmation to a certain proposal by the cream-haired trainer fighting along with him.

 _Ash must have really changed when it comes to girls from what he's been few years ago. Besides, if he did that, then so did I._ Misty thought before she sighed.

"But still, to think that one of the world's best Pokemon models [2] would be appearing in front of us and being the mother of Ash whom I fought in a Gym battle few months ago. It's really an honor to see you, Mrs. Delia..."

"Oh... It's really an honor to meet you too, Miss Valerie..."

 _Mrs. Delia? Pokemon model? That means...!_ "Golduck, return!"

"Goru...?!"

She flinched a bit and hides such device to her right pocket in her yellow shorts as well as returning her Golduck to its Pokeball. With that, she immediately then turned towards her back to find the source of a certain familiar woman's voice, only to see two women and five ladies watching a certain doubles battle.

"Madam!" Misty said as she happily waved her hand to the mahogany-haired woman, to which the latter realized who is the caller and immediately made her way towards Misty, along with the other six female companions.

"So, my dear Ash is really here, fighting. To think that a friendly date would ended up like this. No wonder, he isn't really used to something like that. Right, Misty?" Delia said as she gave off a deep sigh and a smile while observing the raven-haired trainer's actions, which made the honey-haired girl and the brown-haired woman softly laugh at it. Then the honey-haired girl, Serena, went towards Misty and said:

"Good day, Misty!"

"G, Good day, Serena..."

Upon looking at Misty's mood being saddened, Serena felt wondered about it and...

"Hey, look at our Katherine!"

Eventually, the black-haired fashion designer, Kali, feeling surprised, pointed her index finger towards a certain mantis-like creature which was now taking care a bit by Katherine on the battlefield. Everyone but Misty felt surprised seeing such Pokemon.

Upon seeing such creature, Serena immediately picked a certain red-colored portable device, the Pokedex, from her pink bag and points such device towards the creature...

-No available data-

"What does it say, Serena?" The brown-haired woman immediately asked Serena, still feeling surprised.

"There's no information about this Pokemon in this Pokedex, mama. This should mean it's a newly discovered Pokemon-" Serena answered her mother's question.

"That's incorrect to say that the Pokemon that wasn't recorded in the Pokedex would mean it was a newly discovered one, Serena." The long black-haired lady interrupted Serena who was now wondering about such lady's words.

"What do you mean, Miss Valerie?"

"The Kalos Pokedex only recorded databases from Pokemon that was present in the Kalos Region... This means that the Pokemon Katherine has been using isn't coming from this region, but rather from the other regions." Valerie passionately answered the honey-haired Pokemon performer.

"I see... Then who's that Pokemon, Miss Valerie?" Serena clearly still wondering about that Pokemon.

"Hm... Even if I came from the Johto Region, I assured you that I couldn't answer your question as such Pokemon cannot be seen in that region too. I'm sorry..."

"That's a Lurantis, by the way. Not only that Katherine has that Lurantis, but Falkner from the other side of the stadium has Decidueye too. Look!" Misty immediately spoke as she eventually pointed towards the two seemingly new creatures appearing in the battlefield.

"Luran...?!"

"Decidu...?!"

"Falkner?! Do you mean the son of Mr. Walker?! [3]" Valerie immediately spoke as she somehow remembered something as she puts her right hand on her right cheek, just before Kali and Linnea would even mentioned the names of a certain mantis and of a certain owl, respectively. Misty then realized that she mentioned a certain trainer's name to others while looking at a certain blue-haired trainer commanding the Decidueye and...

"Yeah, he's Falkner..."

... hesitantly nodded after Valerie asked such question. Valerie then looked further at a certain blue-haired trainer at the other side of the battlefield and then feeling surprised upon doing so.

"So that's Falkner now... It's been a while since I really left the Johto Region."

"Do you know about Falkner, madam?" The brunette fashion designer, Linnea, curiously asked such question.

"After all these years, neither you nor Katherine told us about your homeland, the Johto Region, madam."

"When it comes to work, personal stuff doesn't matter for as long as we worked together for the fashion store, Linnea. Even so, if you asked about that, I only knew about Falkner because he is the son of Mr. Walker, the Violet City Gym Leader. That's all I know."

"Hm... So his father's name is Walker... I never heard his name before..." Misty said feeling curious towards Valerie about such name.

"Hm? What do you mean, miss...?"

Upon Valerie saying such statement, Misty spoke with determination while looking at the former.

"I'm Misty, Kanto Region's Cerulean City Gym Leader..."

"Well, I'm Valerie, Kalos Region's Lavarre City Gym Leader..."

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Valerie. I don't remember Falkner mentioned the name of his father, even though he's proud of him during the we met him few years ago... But Falkner himself is the current Gym Leader of Johto Region's Violet City." Misty answered as the two Gym Leaders proceeded to shake hands to one another carefully.

"So he really become one, huh? That's quite a news to me." Valerie somehow smiled genuinely about what Misty had said, feeling very happy, much to Misty's wonder.

"Who's Falkner, madam?"

"Can you tell us something about Falkner?"

"Huh? What are you saying?"

Misty just sighed and immediately focused herself on the doubles battle as Valerie's focus immediately shifted to her three colleagues, especially Kali and Linnea (much to Valerie's dismay). Eventually...

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"So... how do you know about those Pokemon, Misty?"

A certain honey-haired performer on her side talked to Misty.

"O, oh! S, Serena! Well... I've known those Pokemon because of this device that I've received from Professor Oak recently..." Misty said as she immediately showed a certain device to Serena from her yellow shorts's right pocket.

"T, this seemed look like a Pokedex... But these information seemed to be a lot more than what my Pokedex would do." Serena said feeling wondered, much to Misty's surprise...

"Y, Yes! Here and try it, Serena."

Misty hesitantly gave Serena such device for the latter to peek on something on its screen, regardless of her clear thoughts on Serena - and Ash as well. Despite that..

With that, Misty then turned to Delia while remembering something while Grace immediately talked to Serena about a certain entry about a certain honeycreeper-like creature.

"That Pokemon has four formes... Do you think that's the same as Furfrou, Serena?"

"I don't know, mom. But these formes have different types from one another... To say the truth, I wish I could get these Pokemon soon. They would help me for my improving my skills as a Pokemon performer."

"I remembered you should be giving this type of device to Ash, right, Mrs. Delia?"

"Oh, you're correct. But I only give that device to my sweetie once he returned to Pallet Town." Mrs. Delia answered winking confidently to her orange-haired young lady.

"Besides, that's really a good time to do that... For me, this would mean more Pokemon for my Ash to discover in the future even with everything that had happened to him now... including his..."

"Oh! A Ribombee!"

"Those are a lot of Pokemon that we haven't seen here, Serena. But where do you think this Pokemon can be found? It's a cute one!"

"Yeah... These Pokemon are quite interesting to look at. I wonder where are these Pokemon can be found though."

Before Delia even continued to say something, Serena and her mother Grace made conversations while looking at the screen of the device which showed a certain entry about a certain bee fly-like creature.

 _The Bee Fly Pokemon. Bug/Fairy-Type. The final form of Cutiefly's evolutionary line. Ribombee rolls up pollen into puffs. It makes many different varieties, some used as food and others used in battle. Some of Ribombee's pollen puffs are highly nutritious. They are sometimes sold as supplements._

"Why are you reading that Pokemon's entry, Serena?"

Because of this, Misty and Delia turned themselves to Serena and her mother, Grace, who are still looking on the device until Misty called the honey-haired performer.

"I remembered an acquaintance of mine named Concetta [4] who also joined in the night performance four days ago. She happened to have this Pokemon whose data wasn't registered in my Pokedex." Serena said with a smile while reminiscing a certain moment in the past. She noted while still smiling:

"I still wondered where are the regions Ribombee and Oricorio can be found, Misty. I hope I could find them too."

"Is that something connected to your Pokemon performances?"

"Yes, it is!" Serena affirmed while still looking at the orange-colored device, still feeling slightly interested, making both Delia and Grace smiled brightly as well. Misty, on the other hand...

"I see..."

Misty is still smiling at Serena observing at certain Pokemon entries in the device. However...

* * *

May 15, 20XX... In a certain hospital...

 _"B, But you knew what am I saying, Serena..."_

 _"We're just like what we were before. Do you remember, Ash?"_

 _"... I, I understand..." [5]_

* * *

Remembering a certain event yesterday made Misty clearly feeling unease, making her unable to say something normally. Because of that, only Misty mumbled...

"Can I ask you something... Serena?"

"Sure, mom... Huh? Yes... What is it?" Serena answered still with a smile as she looked at the orange-haired lady - a clear point that she's clueless about something - just after she gave the device to her mother Grace for the latter to observe.

"Well... it's about... Ash."

"Ash? What's with him, Misty?"

At that point, Valerie was being teased by her three colleagues about a possible relationship with different men with names such as Falkner, Grant, Morty, and many more, much to the long-haired Gym Leader's annoyance, while Grace was feeling amazed about the technology of the likes of the orange-haired device, that was revealed by Delia to be made by Professor Oak of the Kanto Region - with the contribution of a certain cousin of his in a certain region, that is.

"What do you think of Ash?"

Misty inquired as she proceeded to look at the raven-haired trainer on his side of the battlefield who was now looking at her... or rather, at everyone including her along with the cream-haired female trainer beside him - before the two turned back to face Falkner and the purple-haired female trainer with him named Janine.

"Ash... What do you mean?"

"I'm just wondering who he is now... It's really been years since I last saw him."

"I see..."

Serena took a deep breath and answered properly with a mellowed smile after the raven-haired trainer looked at her and everyone else for a short moment beforehand - blushing.

"Ash is unselfish... thoughtful... optimistic..."

"..."

In the center of the battlefield, Greninja performed a certain transformation through its strong bond towards its raven-haired trainer...

"He can be stubborn at times, going through different obstacles, like in that incident here in this city last week... Of course, he loves Pokemon battles and food..."

"..."

Greninja is now covered in a water veil itself while taking a change in its appearance resembling its trainer...

"But most importantly... he's been built for his own words - _never give up until it's over..."_

"Never give up until it's over _.._.?"

The water veil then moved from around its body to its back and formed an X, similar to the wings of a butterfly...

 _"_ Those are the words he said to me when we first time met many years in the past... Those are what drives him to become one of the best trainers in this world... A guy who pursues _huge dreams..._ "

"..."

The wings formed into a small sphere shape of water on the middle of its back with a light blue ring in the middle of it and it then grows in size until it forms into a shuriken made of compressed water...

"I knew that he encountered a certain wall... But I also knew he can able to get through with this to reach for his goals... I believe in him... I always do... That's why I..."

Greninja achieved its peak form - the Ash-Greninja - just as Serena was about to say anything else...

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"OOOOOOOHHH! So that's what happened!"

""""""""Huh?""""""""

"Now I see why both the Sinnoh League and the Hoenn League became interested to Ash now!"

"You're right. Ash finally realized his true potential as a Pokemon trainer. I'm glad that he is."

Such sweet (and in the latter's case, calm) voices didn't come from any of them. In fact, all of them felt surprised upon hearing such voices, especially Serena and Misty. Rather, it came from two certain girls who just came into that same spot as the other women through some stairs of the audience area - one of them being a certain excited black-haired young girl and the other being a certain mellowed shiny-violet-haired young girl - both of them seemed to be on the same age as Serena and Misty.

Notably on that time, the battle continued between the multiple copies of Venomoth firing multiple globs of poisonous fluid towards Greninja, who was creating multiple copies of itself, with each one of the clones immediately firing a shuriken of water to counter every single bit of the globs - causing multiple collisions between water and dirt in the mid-air...

Eventually, the excited female trainer then looked at Serena's group and immediately asked as Decidueye, now revealing itself elsewhere from invisibility outside of the area of a certain mid-air collision, swiftly fired multiple blades of compressed dead leaves towards several of the multiple copies of Greninja on their paths, deleting all of these copies in just one strike and leaving only the original - who was dodging every amount of poisonous fluid through series of somersaults and leaps - standing...

"Good afternoon, everyone! Do you, by any chance, also watch this battle?!"

"Y, Yes, we are," answered Serena while feeling shy facing these two trainers. "D, Do you happen to know Ash?"

"Well..." answered the black-haired young girl with such an excited voice. She further replied as she pulled her friend closer to the battlefield which is now filled with a , "both of us knew Ash just fine! Am I right, Anabel?"

"Yeah, you're right, Candice." Anabel calmly answered her friend's question as she then looked back at the battlefield - towards the raven-haired trainer. She also added, "I believe Ash will win this battle."

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Back in the battlefield from the perspective of the spectators, Katherine's Lurantis then proceeded to launch itself and to slash towards the the owl-like creature - who was about to hide itself through invisibility - with verdane energy on its scythes. However, Decidueye changed its position and formed another leaf blade from its wings on its right hand and...

Exchange of sword slashes happened between Lurantis and Decidueye...

As the focused Lurantis was about to slash Decidueye's body with its scythes, the latter immediately parried the attack with its leaf blade blocking it...

As the cautious Decidueye was about to stab Lurantis' body with its formed leaf blade, the latter did the same thing as the former when it came to block such strike.

This trade happened back and forth many times, with no one being hit by anything.

The multiple copies of Venomoth was about to fire multiple globs of poisonous fluid once again, but all of these Venomoth were immediately being struck down by multiple swift small water shurikens thrown by Ash-Greninja - aside from the original who was able to dodge every single one of these shuriken reactively fast despite its injuries.

As the Ninja Pokemon was about to propel another water shuriken towards the Poison Moth Pokemon, the latter quickly flew down from higher mid-air towards the Arrow Quill Pokemon and the Bloom Sickle Pokemon and hide behind them, making the blue frog shooting its large shuriken towards the two Grass-type creatures - a mistake has made by both Greninja and the raven-haired male trainer, Ash, combined.

Certain commands from the cream-haired female trainer, Katherine, from one end of the large circular battlefield and the blue-haired male trainer, Falkner, from the other end of it made Lurantis and Decidueye decided to step away from the approaching water shuriken, with Decidueye immediately hid itself through invisibility. Certain command from the purple-haired female trainer, Janine, made Venomoth to immediately control the body of Lurantis with its psychic powers and to put it in front of the moth-like creature to use it as a shield from the incoming attack of Greninja, making Lurantis to fall on the ground injured once again, much to the worry of Katherine.

After some few seconds, the cautious Decidueye proceeded to show itself in a point-blank range in front of the shocked Greninja and fired a blade of leaves towards the later - once again like an arrow. The blade struck towards the body of Greninja, blowing the latter very fast to an area near its trainer - who was neither worried nor reacted to the pain his Pokemon just got about the and was still focused on the battle. This made Serena from the audience area feeling wondered a bit for a short while. After all, she is one of those few people who knew about the weakness of such phenomenon.

Eventually, the blue frog that was fainted on the ground disappeared like nothing happened... and the real serious Greninja swiftly leaped high from nowhere while it created two swords made of dark energy from both of its hands and spinned itself very fast towards the unprepared Decidueye, slashing the latter with both swords, falling the owl to its knees in the process as the blue frog landed successfully near the shocked Venomoth.

Greninja then proceeded to put its right hand on the ground below him and the water from the shuriken on its back slowly flowed down to the ground, seemingly chanting a certain incantation - like an adept of ninjutsu would do. Eventually, before Venomoth released sound waves, a geyser of water mystically summoned out of the ground and over the opponent, blowing the panicked Venomoth upwards. However, the Venomoth that was hit by the water geyser eventually disappeared - another Venomoth clone, that is - and the real one flew away from that water stream and proceeded to shoot multiple blobs of toxic fluids from its wings to the direction of the blue frog.

Just as the water geyser disappeared immediately after Venomoth spewed toxic fluids to Greninja, the latter grabbed the water shuriken on its back and slammed the ground below it to create a water burst in front of the blue frog, creating a shield that will blocked the toxic fluids from hitting the latter. Eventually, Greninja whirled the water shuriken fast towards the panicked flying moth and the attack splashed the latter's body with water upon a forceful contact. Such contact resulted to the weakening of Venomoth's flight, slowly falling itself to the ground from high mid-air.

However, the battle wasn't ended yet... as Decidueye proceeded to stand up slowly once again and glowed brightly, completely healed itself despite the fatigue, and disappeared once again - preparing for another attack. With that, Greninja - and Ash - stayed cautious for the next strike...

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Back in certain part of the audience area...

"Ash's truly impressive... Even more than I've seen during the Lily of the Valley Conference few years ago." [6] Candice admitted after she felt impressed seeing Ash's performance in the battle. Anabel nodded in agreement while watching Ash's performance, smiling - and blushing - an action that bothered both Serena and Misty for certain reasons.

Serena then took a deep breath and then commented.

"Sinnoh League? Hoenn League? Then..."

"Is there something in your mind, Serena? Don't tell me they are..."

"Well..."

Valerie eventually asked Serena about something as she came closer to them, much to the latter's quick surprise. But upon remembering some certain thoughts on her mind - specifically during a certain situation in the Lumiose City Gym recently, Serena, feeling determined, asked the two newcomers about something...

"Are the two of you going to invite Ash to be part of the upcoming Pokemon World Tournament, Miss Candice, Miss Anabel?"

Everyone around her but two - Candice and Anabel, that is - felt shocked about hearing such revelation. Anabel then calmly answered with a genuine smile.

"Yes, we are, and we... no, I am going to convince him to join the Team Hoenn, as of orders from the Hoenn League..."

Eventually, just as Anabel was about to continue, a strong and loud cracking sound was heard elsewhere around the stadium, causing everyone - including the trainers fighting in the battlefield - to feel either panic or nervous. Surprised, Anabel asked to her ponytail-haired companion:

"W, What is it, Candice?"

"I, I don't know..."

"There!"

The fair-skinned fashion designer, Blossom, hurriedly pointed her index finger towards elsewhere above the stadium, in which all others followed her afterwards.

"Wha... What's that light?!" The black-haired fashion designer Kali shouted, feeling shocked.

A mysterious blinding light appeared above the stadium. Blossom added something to others around her...

"A portal..."

"A portal? F, From where?!" A worried Linnea asked towards her fair-skinned friend, who was now clasping her hands on her heart, feeling nervous.

"I cannot say, Linnea..."

As Blossom answered with clear uncertainty, a certain creature was seen appearing from the _portal_ slowly falling itself downward to the battlefield from the mid-air.

Said creature was a white, elegant, anthromorphic, cockroach-like creature - the one Blossom, along with a certain blue-haired groomer she befriended, had seen during a certain night three days ago. Eventually, Misty grabbed the orange-colored Pokedex-like device from the Delia and Grace with proper permission and quickly looked for certain information about the creature...

"Is that a newly-discovered one?" Misty worriedly asked the others as she found nothing concerning the creature. Blossom seriously answered, surprising everyone around her.

"That's..."

Before she said anything, Serena, Misty and Valerie immediately ran out from the others...

* * *

"Pika?!"

"What was that, Ash?!"

"A new Pokemon...? Where does that come from?"

From the one end of the battlefield, Ash, Katherine and the yellow mouse Pikachu all felt nervous upon seeing the creature appearing down from that portal. Not only they are the ones feeling such emotions, but also Falkner and Janine from the other side of the battlefield.

"I wonder what's that Pokemon was doing here?" Ash, still looking through Greninja's eyes because of the synchronization, only felt wondered as that creature finally landed on the center of that battlefield - just a small distance in front of Ash's Greninja and with its eyes still closed.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

Its very long antennae twitched...

With that, its two closed eyes quickly opened, revealing the purple irises on its eyes, feeling threatened...

Eventually, the cockroach-like creature quickly put its very small hands together at its side and formed an azure orb of chi energy in between them as it jumped into the air and raises its hands above its small head, making the orb grew larger. The mysterious creature then forcefully tossed the orb towards the Pokemon nearest to it - Greninja - much to the Ninja Pokemon's surprise. The surprised attack collided towards Greninja, quickly pushed the frog away from it and towards Ash and Katherine's side of the battlefield, feeling pain through the frog's body - and Ash's body as well.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"Ash! Are you alright?!" Katherine immediately came to help Ash, who had fallen on the floor because of the indirect pain.

"Y, Yeah. I'm fine. T, This is a side effect of performing this synchronization with Greninja."

"Pikachu..." Pikachu agreed with its trainer. After all, the Mouse Pokemon is one of those who knew the side effects of the synchronization and who just accepted such weakness.

"Is that true?"

"Y, Yeah. For now, let's focus on stopping that rampaging mysterious creature, Katherine and save your Pokemon from this."

Katherine nodded in agreement as she helped Ash to stand up once again and once Ash can able to stand up properly, Katherine immediately ran towards her Pokemon from the other side of the battlefield.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

As Katherine's Lurantis and Janine's Venomoth slowly recovered themselves despite their injuries and the fatigue, the mysterious creature, still in mid-air, proceeded to create another orb of chi energy on its hands and tossed it towards the Bloom Sickle Pokemon, much to the shock of the cream-haired female trainer.

"Decidueye, destroy the orb with your Spirit Shackle!"

An arrow made of shadow energy was swiftly fired towards the orb in order to avoid its contact to the Bloom Sickle Pokemon, leaving a shadowy trail on its path in a short time. The orb was then popped out upon the contact with the arrow, causing the blow-up of powerful energy like an explosion near the location of Lurantis.

As the explosion happened, the cockroach-like creature then immediately dive down towards the still-weakened Venomoth at very high speed, but by another command by Falkner, another shadow arrow was fired at an area between the mysterious white creature and the poison moth. The white creature quickly stopped its momentum and looked at the trail of that shadow arrow - and towards the arrow's starting point.

"Greninja, Night Slash!"

The creature saw no one and turned its attention towards the incoming Greninja holding dual swords of dark energy charging towards it and the former immediately created the same swords on its two hands. The two proceeded to exchange strikes to one another, with no one getting hit with their own little swordplay - a strict style from the blue frog and an elegant style from the white cockroach. The two quickly stepped back from another when another shadow arrow from Decidueye, located far away in the battlefield, was shot towards them. On that time, Katherine finally reached her Pokemon and held it with her arms, so did Janine with her poison moth partner.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

As Katherine carried her Pokemon with her arms and ran towards her position where Ash can be found as well, feeling exhausted.

"A, Are you alright, my p, partner?"

"Raran..."

As she realized that her Pokemon was still fine, Katherine then looked at the sun very far above them.

"So bright... the sun's blinding brilliance..."

"Rara?"

"You know... Y, You haven't used that move..." Katherine smiled to her partner in her arms, with the latter feeling clueless about that.

"R, Ra...?"

"Y, Your strongest move..." Katherine revealed a certain secret towards to her partner - something that widened the eyes of her mantis partner.

"I knew it will took a long while before you could unleash your strongest attack, especially under the sun. C, Can you able to do that?"

The exhausted Lurantis nodded in agreement, while having its pink eyes widened.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

A stream of lightning was released from the body a certain yellow mouse towards the mysterious elegant creature, to which the latter quickly dodged through sidestepping at high speeds.

The creature then looked at elsewhere in the battlefield. With that, it observed an owl-like creature about to fire another shadow arrow. Before the arrow from Decidueye was shot towards the mysterious species, the latter immediately mystically formed the same shadow arrow through its right hand, and threw such arrow immediately to Decidueye at very high speed - while sidestepping once again to avoid the incoming arrow strike - leaving two trails of shadow energy on their paths in the battlefield. The creature's attack then hit the panicked Decidueye, throwing the latter away through a good distance towards Falkner's side and the latter almost fainting from it.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

"Decidueye! Are you okay?!"

Falkner, feeling worried, hurriedly came to his almost fainted Grass/Ghost-type partner.

"Ju." Decidueye, feeling exhausted, nodded and immediately healing its injuries once again - through a certain move called Synthesis - but not its fatigue.

"For now, let's do the same thing. But make sure, the creature's attention should be with the Greninja only so you can able to concentrate on high-accuracy firing."

"Ju..." Decidueye slowly stood up with the help of its trainer. On that time, Janine and her Venomoth finally arrived to her position and the female trainer proceeded to talk with her Pokemon, something that both Falkner and Decidueye eventually noticed.

"M, Morph...?"

"Venomoth, I know it's quite surprising to have a very, very fast-paced battle with our opponents, especially Ash and his Greninja. As Poison-type specialists ourselves, we should have trained more to make sure we'll be able to make ourselves a great challenge to the other trainers, right?"

Venomoth agreed through a certain sound from itself only Janine completely understood.

"Yeah. You did your best. You should take a rest for now, Venomoth."

"Phon..."

With that agreement, Janine smiled and immediately picked up Venomoth's Pokeball from her pockets on her purple pants and pressed the button of the ball to make the Poison Moth Pokemon mystically dematerialized itself from the real world as it returned inside that Pokeball.

After doing so, Janine looked at Falkner wondering and just sighed after a short while, something that bothered the latter.

"Hm... What is it, Janine?"

"That's quite unfair... Using a non-Flying-type Pokemon... That's outside of the rules of this Pokemon battle."

"Huh?! Is there such an unspoken rule like that?!" Falkner responded, feeling shocked about the situation while still holding the recovered Arrow Quill Pokemon as the latter stood up along its trainer. Notably, the Arrow Quill Pokemon is slightly smaller than Falkner himself.

"There's no such rule for this Pokemon battle, Janine. More importantly, we're only here to see Ash's capabilities as that great Pokemon trainer the world had known for right now, even if he would have joined the other teams for the tournament... This is despite the fact that there are lot more trainers that could have beat him easily... Like Tobias during the recent Johto League Conference happened last year... A very well-known Pokemon trainer who constantly uses more powerful Pokemon in every battle - like Darkrai and Cresselia."

"..."

The two of them then looked at the other side of the battlefield - where Greninja and Pikachu were still fighting against a certain white anthromorphic creature through an exchange of different attacks.

If Pikachu and Greninja used any of their moves aside from some of their 'faster' attacks, the humanoid-like creature will mimic the same attacks back, causing for nothing more than the clash between the very same attacks towards one another, similar to how the creature mimic the same move Decidueye used a while ago.

If Pikachu and Greninja used any of the 'faster' strikes such as Pikachu's Quick Attack and Greninja's Water Shuriken, the creature will proceeded to dodge every single one of these attacks and will countered back with attacks different from these 'faster' attacks.

"As well as the battle right now against that creature that's more ladylike than you..." Falkner clearly made a joke towards his female friend.

"So a, are you saying that I'm not a lady?" Janine clearly retorted, feeling slightly anger towards her male friend. "Well, that's fine with me. At least, I'm more than independent when it comes to my lifestyle. I'm more used to living alone than most other girls my age and you know that."

"..."

"For now..."

Janine proceeded to pick another Pokeball from the same pocket and threw it forward. A Shedinja, the Shed Pokemon, mystically came out of the ball, making the blue-haired Gym Leader of Violet City wondered a bit.

"Let's just say you're not the only who can able to do that trick you've used in this battle. Being that makes me more of a woman than of a lady..." Janine smiled at him.

"..."

After that, both Falkner and Janine have their Pokemon entering the battlefield once again, readying to strike the opposing mysterious creature that had been exchanging lightning bolts and water geysers against Ash's Pikachu and Greninja from the other side of the field, while the white creature dodging every single fast strike from both of them.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

 _Firstly, that old man who invited me to aid his group called the Aether Foundation in the Alola Region..._

 _Secondly, those people who invited me to participate for a certain team in the Pokemon World Tournament that will take place in the Alola Region..._

 _Thirdly, Katherine had a Lurantis, a Pokemon that can be found in the Alola Region..._

 _So don't tell me, that white creature right here is connected from the Alola region too, right?_

Ash was watching carefully the battle against the mysterious creature with two of his Pokemon. He never realized Katherine and her injured Lurantis had finally arrived on his side though.

"Be ready, Lurantis..." Katherine cheered onto her Pokemon as the latter, still exhausted, eventually raised its arm-scythes upwards. Still, Ash doesn't realize what was going on beside.

 _Is there anything more that would make me feel that my journey will lead to that region other than these things? That's my life, it seems. Another journey will be waiting soon._

"Now, Lurantis, show it... Show it to me that brilliance."

Pouring all the strength in the mantis' body into the two arm-scythes grasping one another, the Bloom Sickle Pokemon lifted those arms up high.

Fragments of light gathered from far above...

"Huh? What is this, Katherine?"

... something that Ash and his Pikachu eventually noticed as he looked at the paths of the fragments of such bright light.

"..."

The light condensed further, slowly forming into a sword of blinding brilliance as Katherine kept her silence looking at her Pokemon.

"Sylveon, Fairy Wind!"

"Mawile, Punishment!"

"Golduck, Signal Beam!"

Eventually, as Lurantis is still charging a sword of brilliance on its hands and Greninja and Pikachu are still exchanging attacks with the mysterious creature, three certain creatures - the Duck Pokemon Golduck, the Deceiver Pokemon Mawile and the Intertwining Pokemon Sylveon - were mystically summoned in front of Lurantis and immediately fired their own stream attacks towards the white creature.

The white creature immediately dodged all of the three stream strikes and these attacks only hit the sky instead, making itself moving away from Greninja for a short while before it proceeded to battle with Greninja once again.

"Mawile, charge yourself with your Swords Dance many times."

The Mawile in front of Lurantis closed its eyes and meditates. Several blue glowing swords circled Mawile and cross together. Lucario then glowed crimson, raising its physical strength.

""Huh?""

On that time, Ash and Katherine eventually heard a familiar woman's voice and then looked at their backs, causing them to feel surprised seeing their friends.

"Serena, Misty, Miss Valerie... I'm glad you guys came here..." Ash smiled at these three women's arrival to that end of the battlefield. Notably, Serena and Misty were smiling at him as well, while Miss Valerie also did the same thing but she immediately proceeded to command her Mawile to improve its physical strength even more through Swords Dance, along with Katherine who was now talking to her manager at this time, with the manager teasing her employee about her relationship with Ash, something that embarrassed the cream-haired female trainer. Valerie then eventually proceeded to pick a certain object from her corset - a Keystone - and as she commanded, she immediately made her Mawile undergoing a certain temporary evolution - also known as the Mega Evolution - to become a more powerful Pokemon than it was before. Both Serena and Ash were a bit surprised at that action Valerie had done to her Mawile, before returning to their senses to the current situation.

"Don't worry, Ash. We're here to stop that rampaging Pokemon as well. We can't let have this situation going worse. Right, Serena?"

"Yeah. Misty's right. But..." The three of them then looked at the current state of the battle: Ash's Greninja was the only one facing the mysterious creature in a fierce melee combat, wielding either the small swords of dark energy or the water shuriken - without realizing a certain azure aura that was going to appear around its body - while Ash's Pikachu, Serena's Sylveon, Misty's Golduck, Janine's Shedinja, and Falkner's Decidueye were firing their own projectile attacks - either a ball or a stream of compressed lightning for Pikachu, a wind stream of sparkling wind for Sylveon, a stream of psychic energy for Golduck, a ball made of shadow energy for Shedinja, and an arrow of the same shadow energy from Decidueye - towards the creature, with these projectiles hitting only the air because of the white creature's capability to dodge anything on its path and proceeded to continue attacking Greninja once again.

"It doesn't stop chasing your Greninja, Ash."

"Yes... I can't still figure out the way Greninja will overcome this... Erh!"

Ash eventually fell itself to its knees when an eventual warmth came to his body for no reason, causing himself to feel a longing pain. Serena immediately pulled him up with her right hand on his back, supporting him back up.

"T, Thanks, Serena."

"No problem. But y, you're hot, Ash... You must have caught with fever again..." Serena said with worry on her face, feeling his sudden warmth flowing into hers.

"What is that, Ash?!" Misty worriedly asked as she observed Ash's being in pain for certain reason.

"T, This warm feeling... I'm s, sure it's not fever, Serena, Misty... W, Where does this came from?"

The three of them then immediately looked at his Greninja - its body slowly going to be covered by an azure transparent aura. He then immediately remembered something in the past - three days ago when Serena told him about the events concerning the two's involvement in the Team Flare incident.

"S, Serena, don't tell me this is what happened to Greninja while I was fallen asleep for that whole time?"

"Hm..." Serena nodded. "That was Greninja when it used that powerful move... Even more powerful than any of the strongest Water-type moves I've seen until now, that is."

"Then..."

Ash's eyes closed despite the sudden warmth on his body that caused him pain and exhaustion as Serena on his side was still carrying him.

 _Can you do that, Greninja? That powerful move you've got during our battle against Lysandre and the Team Flare?_

The serious Greninja, who has then continuing its melee combat against the white elegant creature, then looked at its trainer, which surprised the Ninja Pokemon. It was at this time he was eventually caught itself off-guard, making itself open to the mysterious creature's incoming attack, giving the Ninja Pokemon a blow to its body through throwing a certain large ball of spiritual energy to it, tossing the blue frog to the ground near its trainer once again - causing both Greninja and Ash feeling more pain, much to Serena and Misty's worry once more.

As the mysterious creature was about to throw another ball of spiritual energy to Ash's Greninja - as well as Valerie's Mawile and Katherine's Lurantis, both of which are charging their own powerful attacks through their own ways - all of the other Pokemon in the battlefield, now including those Pokemon on that part of the audience area where Delia's group are located (namely Anabel's Espeon (who's capable of using Zap Cannon), Candice's Abomasnow, Delia's Mr. Mime, Grace's Talonflame, Kali's Froslass, Blossom's Gardevoir and Linnea's Ludicolo) are firing their own projectile attacks once again, aiming against the white creature.

The mysterious creature immediately countered any of the projectile attacks by mimicking the same attacks towards them, while dodging the other projectiles immediately after countering some of the other attacks through the mimicked ones.

That is, if Pikachu released a stream of lightning from its body towards the creature, the creature will do the same thing to counter the lightning strike. The same things happened to the other projectile strikes, causing the creature to remain unscathed after all this time and still focused on chasing after Greninja, who was slowly standing on its feet after that powerful blow to itself just now.

This will be getting repetitive, resulting to the mysterious creature to be completely distracted by the other Pokemon, and immediately fought them instead for now.

 _Do it, Greninja._

Ash's Greninja, once it stood again on its two feet and upon hearing its trainer's command, immediately put its hands into a certain seal - a sign for Greninja for enchanting a certain powerful Water-type move. Eventually, it put its open right hand to the ground, seemingly charging for that move and the shuriken on its back flowed its water down to the ground for some reason. Eventually, Valerie eventually looked at the Greninja for some reason and said:

"Greninja must have used it again, mustn't it?"

On that time, as everyone else but Serena and Ash is now fully focusing themselves on combating the mysterious creature appearing on Lumiose Stadium's battlefield...

"Keep distracting the creature with your Fairy Wind, Sylveon!" Serena commanded her Pokemon who was now releasing another stream of sparkling wind towards the mysterious creature while still carrying her raven-haired friend's back, feeling worried on him. She mumbled to Ash whose eyes are still closed.

"Ash, you can do it."

"Serena..."

"You can do everything for your goals, right?"

"Yeah, I believe so..." Ash answered while his eyes are still closed - smiling warmly.

"I'm Greninja's trainer after all... This phenomenon is a sign that I can become the Pokemon Master that I hoped to become soon. But for now, I must know the name of that creature that chased after Greninja right now..."

"I understand..." Serena just sighed about his response and said these words, giving him a warm smile in response.

Ash, now with eyes opened, and Serena then proceeded to observe the battle - a battle to defeat the unscathed creature in one powerful strike.

 **／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼**

The battle was about to reach its climax as Ash's Greninja, Valerie's Mawile and Katherine's Lurantis are now completely prepared for their very powerful strikes themselves - as the mysterious creature is now completely distracted from all of the projectile attacks that it dodged with its high speed until now.

Eventually, as the the other Pokemon that are distracting it until now stopped (namely, Ash's Pikachu, Serena's Sylveon, Misty's Golduck, Falkner's Decidueye and Janine's Shedinja, Anabel's Espeon, Candice's Abomasnow, Delia's Mr. Mime, Grace's Talonflame, Kali's Froslass, Blossom's Gardevoir and Linnea's Ludicolo), distracted creature had jumped high to the center in the battlefield, and was about to throw another large ball of spiritual energy to the direction targeting Greninja.

Without what will be following up against itself...

"Lurantis, Solar Blade!"

"Mawile, Punishment!"

"Give it your shot, Greninja!"

Firstly, the sword of blinding brilliance from Lurantis' arm-scythes became a streak of light as Lurantis swung that sword straightforward, a swirling and surging torrent that will about to devour the white creature.

Secondly, The stream of devouring darkness energy was fired from Mawile's right index finger, aiming towards the still empowering yet slightly exhausted creature that was still in the mid-air.

Finally, a huge whirling water current was slowly formed from the ground, with the water being coming from Greninja's water shuriken. Such current as it grew up quickly, eventually swallowing the creature into it sooner.

As everyone, humans and Pokemon, within the stadium had witnessed, these three attacks had eventually connected to one another - forming into that one powerful strike that will be hitting the white creature.

On that time, the white ladylike creature was completely dumbstruck by the incoming one fast, powerful blow that will about to hit itself.

With that, the creature closed its purple eyes and devoured itself towards this combined streams of powerful surging energy.

After a short while, the mysterious elegant creature was 'annihilated' - without any trace of its existence was seen afterwards.

* * *

 _ **Continued on: Chapter 04: The Remnant**_ **_Part II (will be released in the future)_**

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Yeah... Pokemon battles are a hard thing to write compared to battles of any other stories I've read/watched_

 _To be frank, I am personally still wondering what would be the right way to write any certain Pokemon battle that's more realistic as a reading material, rather than making it more like being played in a visual medium. I'm not used to write the same way as the animated series did. I hope someone would guide me for the Pokemon battles._

 _Also, just for future references..._

 _UB-01 Symbiont (game) = UB-01 Symbiont = Nihilego  
UB-02 Absorption (game) = UB-02 Absorption = Buzzwole  
UB-02 Beauty (game) = UB-03 Beauty = Pheromosa  
UB-03 Lightning (game) = UB-04 Lightning = Xurkitree (yep, it's a pun for a Pokemon name)  
UB-04 Blaster (game) = UB-05 Blaster = Celesteela  
UB-04 Blade (game) = UB-06 Blade = Kartana  
UB-05 Glutton (game) = UB-07 Glutton = Guzzlord (weakest of the seven)_

 _As well as for the Pokemon's speeches..._

 _Lurantis (English) = Rarantis/ **ラランテス** (Japanese)_  
 _Decidueye (English) = Junaiper/ **ジュナイパー (Japanese)  
Venomoth (English) = Morphon/** **モルフォン** (Japanese)  
Pikachu (English) = Pikachu/ **ピカチュウ (Japanese)**_

 _I hoped these helped just in case._

* * *

 _For the set of moves used by appearing Pokemon in this chapter's Pokemon battle(s)._

 _Wild Pokemon  
_ "UB-03 Beauty" - None  
Type: Bug/Fighting  
Ability: Beast Boost  
\- Hi Jump Kick (Fighting; Physical)  
\- Ice Beam (Ice; Special)  
\- Me First (Normal; Status)  
\- Focus Blast (Fighting; Special)

 _Leader Valerie  
_ Mawile - Mawilite  
Type: Steel/Fairy  
Ability: Hyper Cutter (Mawile) - Huge Power (Mega Mawile)  
\- Stone Edge (Rock; Physical)  
\- Iron Head (Steel; Physical)  
\- Punishment (Normal; Physical)  
\- Swords Dance (Normal; Status)

 _Leader Misty  
_ Golduck - None  
Type: Water  
Ability: Swift Swim  
\- Signal Beam (Bug; Special)  
\- Psyshock (Psychic; Special)  
\- Rain Dance (Water; Status)  
\- Future Sight (Psychic; Special)

 _Idol Serena  
_ Sylveon - None  
Type: Fairy  
Ability: Pixilate  
\- Fairy Wind (Fairy; Special)  
\- Swift (Normal; Special)  
\- Protect (Normal; Status)  
\- Double Team (Normal; Status)

 _Ace Trainer Ash  
_ Greninja - None  
Type: Water/Dark  
Ability: Battle Bond  
\- Night Slash (Normal; Physical)  
\- Hydro Pump (Water; Special)  
\- Double Team (Normal; Status)  
\- Water Shuriken (Water; Special)  
Z-Move: Hydro Vortex

Pikachu - None  
Type: Electric  
Ability: Static  
\- Quick Attack (Normal; Physical)  
\- Thunderbolt (Electric; Special)  
\- Iron Tail (Steel; Physical)  
\- Electro Ball (Electric; Special)

 _Furisode Girl Katherine  
_ Lurantis - None  
Type: Grass  
Ability: Contrary  
\- Solar Blade (Grass; Physical)  
\- X-Scissor (Bug; Physical)  
\- Leaf Storm (Grass; Special)  
\- Protect (Normal; Status)

 _Leader Falkner  
_ Decidueye - None  
Type: Grass/Ghost  
Ability: Overgrow  
\- Leaf Blade (Grawss; Physical)  
\- Synthesis (Grass; Status)  
\- Brave Bird (Flying; Physical)  
\- Spirit Shackle (Ghost; Physical)

 _Leader Janine  
_ Venomoth - None  
Type: Bug/Poison  
Ability: Compoundeyes  
\- Psychic (Psychic; Special)  
\- Double Team (Normal; Status)  
\- Bug Buzz (Bug; Special)  
\- Venoshock (Poison; Special)

Shedinja - None  
Type: Bug/Ghost  
Ability: Wonder Guard  
\- Phantom Force (Ghost; Physical)  
\- Shadow Ball (Ghost; Special)  
\- Shadow Sneak (Ghost; Physical)  
\- Solar Beam (Grass; Special)

* * *

REFERENCES:

 **[1]** Pokemon OS Episode 027: Hypno and Pokemon Hypnotism?!  
 **[2]** Pocket Monsters: The Animation novels  
 **[3]** Walker is the name of Falkner's father who appeared in the Pokemon Adventures manga.  
 **[4]** Concetta is one of the Pokemon performers who appeared in the Pokemon XY anime who only used a Scrafty.  
 **[5]** _Chapter 003: Inevitable Invitations Parts I - II_


End file.
